The title Guatáo comes from a Cuban expression, “It ended like the feast at Guatáo,” meaning that it did not end up well. This book is the fictional account of two strained brothers who try to reestablish their affectional childhood ties in the country of their birth. The contrasts explored include the political differences between Cuba and the United States, the lifestyles of the two brothers, the obstacles they were facing in their own lives, their romantic involvements, and their financial situations. The story is a metaphor for the strained relationship between the two countries—countries that, because of their geographic closeness and cultural similarities, should have been best friends but have seldom been.

“There are moments when a story shakes you...Barely Missing Everything is one of those stories, and Mendez, a gifted storyteller with a distinct voice, is sure to bring a quake to the literary landscape.” —Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author of Long Way Down In the tradition of Jason Reynolds and Matt de la Peña, this heartbreaking, no-holds-barred debut novel told from three points of view explores how difficult it is to make it in life when you—your life, brown lives—don’t matter. Juan has plans. He’s going to get out of El Paso, Texas, on a basketball scholarship and make something of himself—or at least find something better than his mom Fabi’s cruddy apartment, her string of loser boyfriends, and a dead dad. Basketball is going to be his ticket out, his ticket up. He just needs to make it happen. His best friend JD has plans, too. He’s going to be a filmmaker one day, like Quentin Tarantino or Guillermo del Toro (NOT Steven Spielberg). He’s got a camera and he’s got passion—what else could he need? Fabi doesn’t have a plan anymore. When you get pregnant at sixteen and have been stuck bartending to make ends meet for the past seventeen years, you realize plans don’t always pan out, and that there are some things you just can’t plan for… Like Juan’s run-in with the police, like a sprained ankle, and a tanking math grade that will likely ruin his chance at a scholarship. Like JD causing the implosion of his family. Like letters from a man named Mando on death row. Like finding out this man could be the father your mother said was dead. Soon Juan and JD are embarking on a Thelma and Louise­—like road trip to visit Mando. Juan will finally meet his dad, JD has a perfect subject for his documentary, and Fabi is desperate to stop them. But, as we already know, there are some things you just can’t plan for…

A car-centered history of life on Cuba over the past century explores how vintage U.S.-made cars long extinct in the U.S. and held together with mechanical ingenuity and willpower provide a common representation of Cuba.

Jenna and Ryder are far from friends—until a storm stirs up their passion in this contemporary southern romance from New York Times bestselling author Kristi Cook. In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, The Cafferty and Marsden families are practically royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when the families finally have a baby boy and girl at the same time, the perfect opportunity seems to have arrived. Except Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen—oh, and also? They hate each other. Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would prefer it if stubborn-headed Jemma didn’t exist. And their communication is not exactly effective: even a casual hello turns into a yelling match. But when a violent Mississippi storm ravages through Magnolia Branch, it unearths feelings Jemma and Ryder didn’t know they had. And the line between love and hate just might be thin enough to cross…

A not so merry Christmas Christmas is almost here, but everything Hachiman has wanted, everything he might have wished for, is gone. Ever since the student council elections, the Service Club members have been at an awkward standstill. Something is broken between them, but they gather in the clubroom with the hope that things will just go back to normal. That’s when Iroha Isshiki, the new student council president, brings in a request to help her with a joint Christmas event with another school. Hachiman decides to lend a hand, but not on behalf of the Service Club—he’ll do this one on his own.