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Taína

Author Ernesto Quiñonez
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Paperback
$15.95 US
Knopf | Vintage
5.13"W x 7.95"H x 0.77"D  
On sale Sep 03, 2019 | 272 Pages | 9781984897480
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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Julio, a young man of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian origin who lives in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood of New York, suffers from strange visions. When he decides to believe Taina, a girl from his school who is pregnant, but who claims to be a virgin, his blind love for her unleashes a whirlwind of emotions that will lead Julio to question his parents, his religion and even the basic principles of science. Next to the uncle of Taina, an ex-convict with a dark past known as “El Vejigante,” Julio becomes involved in a network of crimes that, although they will finally bring him closer to Taina, will also end by revealing a family secret from which he will not leave unscathed.
 
“Latin American magical realism leaps over any borders and ends up in the barrio of Spanish Harlem. A love story, coming-of-age story, a mystery, a whodunit story, and ultimately a story of true love in the broadest sense.” —Julia Álvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies
 
“Taína is a searing search for the meaning in what we choose to believe and the stories we tell ourselves. . . . This novel’s belief and trust in love is something we desperately need to hear.”
—Helena Viramontes, author of Under the Feet of Jesus
Ernesto Quiñonez was born in Ecuador, but arrived to New York City he was eighteen months old and was raised in El Barrio, East Harlem. Quiñonez is also the author of Bodega Dreams and Chango's Fire. Quiñonez is an Associate Professor at Cornell University, where he teaches Creative Writing, Latino Fiction and Magical Realism, among others. View titles by Ernesto Quiñonez
"Latin American magical realism leaps over any borders and ends up in the barrio of Spanish Harlem. A love story, coming-of-age story, a mystery, a whodunit story, and ultimately a story of true love in the broadest sense." —Julia Álvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies
 
“Taína is a searing search for the meaning in what we choose to believe and the stories we tell ourselves. . . . This novel's belief and trust in love is something we desperately need to hear.” —Helena Viramontes, author of Under the Feet of Jesus

About

Julio, a young man of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian origin who lives in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood of New York, suffers from strange visions. When he decides to believe Taina, a girl from his school who is pregnant, but who claims to be a virgin, his blind love for her unleashes a whirlwind of emotions that will lead Julio to question his parents, his religion and even the basic principles of science. Next to the uncle of Taina, an ex-convict with a dark past known as “El Vejigante,” Julio becomes involved in a network of crimes that, although they will finally bring him closer to Taina, will also end by revealing a family secret from which he will not leave unscathed.
 
“Latin American magical realism leaps over any borders and ends up in the barrio of Spanish Harlem. A love story, coming-of-age story, a mystery, a whodunit story, and ultimately a story of true love in the broadest sense.” —Julia Álvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies
 
“Taína is a searing search for the meaning in what we choose to believe and the stories we tell ourselves. . . . This novel’s belief and trust in love is something we desperately need to hear.”
—Helena Viramontes, author of Under the Feet of Jesus

Author

Ernesto Quiñonez was born in Ecuador, but arrived to New York City he was eighteen months old and was raised in El Barrio, East Harlem. Quiñonez is also the author of Bodega Dreams and Chango's Fire. Quiñonez is an Associate Professor at Cornell University, where he teaches Creative Writing, Latino Fiction and Magical Realism, among others. View titles by Ernesto Quiñonez

Praise

"Latin American magical realism leaps over any borders and ends up in the barrio of Spanish Harlem. A love story, coming-of-age story, a mystery, a whodunit story, and ultimately a story of true love in the broadest sense." —Julia Álvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies
 
“Taína is a searing search for the meaning in what we choose to believe and the stories we tell ourselves. . . . This novel's belief and trust in love is something we desperately need to hear.” —Helena Viramontes, author of Under the Feet of Jesus

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