The Things We Didn't Know -- Elba Iris P?rez, Hardcover

The inaugural winner of Simon & Schuster's Books Like Us contest, Elba Iris Pérez's lyrical, cross-cultural coming-of-age debut novel explores a young girl's childhood between 1950s Puerto Rico and a small Massachusetts factory town.

Andrea Rodríguez is nine years old when her mother whisks her and her brother, Pablo, away from Woronoco, the tiny Massachusetts factory town that is the only home they've known. With no plan and no money, she leaves them with family in the mountainside villages of Puerto Rico and promises to return.

Months later, when Andrea and Pablo are brought back to Massachusetts, they find their hometown significantly changed. As they navigate the rifts between their family's values and all-American culture and face the harsh realities of growing up, they must embrace both the triumphs and heartache that mark the journey to adulthood.

A heartfelt, evocative portrait of another side of life in 1950s America, The Things We Didn't Know establishes Elba Iris Pérez as a sensational new literary voice.

Author: Elba Iris Pérez
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 02/06/2024
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9781668012062

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/23/2023
Booklist 11/01/2023 pg. 34
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2023

About the Author
Elba Iris Pérez is from Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, spent her early childhood in Woronoco, Massachusetts, taught theater and history at the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo, and now lives in Houston. She is also the author of El teatro como bandera, a history of street theater in Puerto Rico.