Juliet Takes a Breath

People Best Book of Fall 2019 • New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award nominee

“Dazzling, funny as hell, poignant, all the things.”—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

“Juliet Takes a Breath is absolutely breathtaking. This is the homegirl I’ve always wanted to see in literature, made flesh by Rivera’s pen.”—Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X

“Raw. Powerful. Honest. Juliet Takes a Breath is a luminous journey of self-discovery. Through Juliet’s awakening, Rivera gently challenges us to step out of the shadows and into the light, and reminds us that successful rebellion begins with loving yourself in all your infinite variety.”—Samira Ahmed, New York Times best­selling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters and Internment

“Rivera captures both the disappointments and the possibilities that come with realizing that your life’s solution cannot be figured out by someone else.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Reflects early adult life . . . in all its messy, confusing splendor.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A whirlwind coming-of-age story that leaves one breathless.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This humorous and heartbreaking summer coming-of-age tale is reminiscent of Isabel Quintero’s 2015 Morris Award winner Gabi, a Girl in Pieces. . . . A powerful novel.”—School Library Journal

“The kind of book that gets the bitter­sweet pain and longing of growing up exactly right.”—Lambda Literary

“Gabby Rivera’s genius lies in her ability to make you weep and laugh in the same paragraph. Juliet Takes a Breath is powerful AF.”—Zoraida Cordova, author of Labyrinth Lost and Bruja Born

“Vivid, loving, sexy, true, and exuberantly alive. Gabby Rivera is the voice that YA has long needed and Juliet Takes a Breath is a breathtaking novel that speaks to every young woman in search of her authentic self.”—Malinda Lo, author of the William C. Morris Award finalist Ash

“This book is a fist-pumping intersectional feminist power anthem. Gabby Rivera’s voice is a force—moving, alive, and bursting with feelings. Reading this book took me through a gamut of emotions—at times I cried with joy, at others I was forced to confront my own unconscious biases. Juliet Takes a Breath is a startling story full of powerful ideas about sexual, racial, and political identity. It will stay with you.”—Britta Lundin, author of Ship It

“Juliet Takes a Breath is the coming-of-­age novel I desperately needed as a queer Latinx teen. Juliet’s heart and soul leaps off the page as she takes readers through her journey from the Bronx to Portland. Her story of self-discovery is timely, vibrant, and illuminating, and I know it’s going to inspire queer teens to be their authentic selves.”—Mark Oshiro, author of the Schneider Book Award winner Anger Is a Gift

“Even if Holden Caulfield was born in the Bronx in the 1980s, he could never be this awesome.”—Inga Muscio, author of Rose: Love in Violent Times