The Grief Keeper

Praise for The Grief Keeper: Summer 2019 Kids’ Indie Next List Pick Summer/Fall 2019 Indies Introduce Kids’ Debuts List Pick A 2020 Rainbow Book List Pick – Young Adult A 2020 Lambda Award Winner – Young Adult A 2022-2023 Land of Enchantment Book Award Nominee (NM) “Hauntingly beautiful.” —School Library Journal “Villasante writes of first love with an authentic voice, beautifully capturing its nervousness, excitement, and awe. . . A story worth reading.” —Booklist “In her debut, Villasante captures the pressures of internalized racism in immigrants...Will grip readers and provoke empathy.” —Kirkus Reviews “Villasante’s novel is for the reader who wants to get down and dirty with the emotional landscape, who wants a romance that is hard-earned and sweetly won. The Grief Keeper...[creates] a realistic yet still hopeful world seen through the gaze of an intelligent, curious protagonist.” —Shelf Awareness “[An] engrossing debut. . . Villasante builds her novel about undocumented immigrants into a suspenseful story with credible relationships, satisfying character development, and elements of science fiction.” —Publisher’s Weekly   “Villasante tackles some interesting issues, especially about power and privilege, in this sci-fi touched tale of contemporary realism. . . the compelling issues and main character will keep readers absorbed and give them plenty to discuss.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “With both timeless poignancy and heartbreaking relevance, The Grief Keeper is a stunning exploration of how we love, how pain lives in us, and how we survive. Alexandra Villasante’s gift for writing the deepest emotional truths resonates through every page.” —Anna-Marie McLemore, author of Wild Beauty and Blanca & Roja