{"id":2686,"date":"2023-01-11T17:04:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T17:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/galltzacker.com\/rights\/?page_id=2686"},"modified":"2023-01-11T17:11:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T17:11:17","slug":"bessie-flores-zaldivar","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/galltzacker.com\/rights\/bessie-flores-zaldivar\/","title":{"rendered":"Bessie Flores Zald\u00edvar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"GZLA\"\n <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

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LIBERTAD<\/h3>\n

\n August 2024,\n Dial\/Penguin Young Readers,\n 432 pp <\/p>\n\n

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A queer YA coming-of-age set during the rigged Honduran presidential election, about a young poet discovering the courage it takes to speak her truth about the people and country she loves.<\/p>\r\n

As the contentious 2017 presidential election looms and protests rage across every corner of the city, life in Tegucigalpa, Honduras churns louder and faster. For her part, high school senior Libertad (Libi) Moraz\u00e1n takes heart in writing political poetry for her anonymous Instagram account and a budding romance with someone new. But things come to a head when Mami sees texts on her phone mentioning a kiss with a girl and Libi discovers her beloved older brother, Maynor, playing a major role in the protests. As Libertad faces the political and social corruption around her, stifling homophobia at home and school, and ramped up threats to her poetry online, she begins dreaming of a future in which she doesn\u2019t have to hide who she is or worry about someone she loves losing their life just for speaking up. Then the ultimate tragedy strikes, and leaving her family and friends\u2014plus the only home she\u2019s ever known\u2014might be her only option.<\/p><\/div>\n\n \n\n

STARRED REVIEWS<\/p>

KIRKUS<\/strong> – “An emotionally charged must-read.”<\/p>\n

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY<\/strong> – “Powerful debut”<\/p>\n

BOOKLIST<\/strong> – “this queer, coming-of-age story should be required reading for all.”<\/p>\n

THE HORN BOOK<\/strong> – “The novel provides an invaluable lens to help readers understand the human toll exacted when democratic governments seek to quash the voices of their citizens.”<\/p>\n\n \n

ACCOLADES