Ander & Santi Were Here: A Novel

Written by Jonny Garza Villa

Narrated by Avi Roque

"[Avi] Roque's warm and musical narration is utter perfection. They capture Ander and Santi's fear with vivid immediacy and also infuse their voices with bubbly happiness. In moments of tenderness, their breath catches. They switch easily between Spanish and English and use a half-dozen unique accents for different characters. This audiobook is a heartbreaking, joyful love letter to queer Latinx communities."- AudioFile

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe meets The Sun is Also a Star in this YA contemporary love story from Jonny Garza Villa, Ander & Santi Were Here, about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the shy new waiter at their family’s taqueria.

Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong.

The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Martínez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family's taquería. It's the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that give them hesitancy. That give them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind?

To keep Ander from becoming complacent during their gap year, their family "fires" them so they can transition from restaurant life to focusing on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago López Alvarado, the hot new waiter. Falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. Through Santi's eyes, Ander starts to understand who they are and want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi's first steps toward making Santos Vista and the United States feel like home.

Until ICE agents come for Santi, and Ander realizes how fragile that sense of home is. How love can only hold on so long when the whole world is against them. And when, eventually, the world starts to win.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: May 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781250883582

Jonny Garza Villa

JONNY GARZA VILLA (they/them) is an author of contemporary young adult literature with characters and settings inspired by their own Tejane, Chicane, and queer identities, including the Pura Belpré Honor Book Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun and Ander & Santi Were Here, a Bookshop.org Best YA of 2023 selection. Whatever the storyline, Jonny ultimately hopes Latines, and, more specifically, queer Mexican American young people will feel seen in their writing. When not writing, Jonny enjoys reading, playing Dungeons and Dragons, visiting taquerías, listening to Selena, and caring for their many cacti children. They live in San Antonio.

Reviews for Ander & Santi Were Here

[Bruno Bento · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved listening to this audiobook, the narrator's voice is suiting, it's a must this audiobook!

[Kaylee Claire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a beautiful book! I really lived the humour in it, though it also got a fair share of tears out of me too.

[d-fbuser-671982417 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’m so in love with this book. It took everything for me not to cry the whole time while listening. This is a must read and I plan on getting a physical copy