With Love, Echo Park
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, this novel follows two Cuban teens in LA’s Echo Park neighborhood who clash over their visions for the future, the secrets between their families…and the sparks flying between them.
Seventeen-year-old Clary is set to inherit her family’s florist shop, La Rosa Blanca—one of the last remnants of the Cuban business district that once thrived in Los Angeles’s Echo Park neighborhood. Clary knows Echo Park is where she’ll leave a legacy, and nothing is more important to her than keeping the area’s unique history alive.
Besides Clary’s florist shop, there’s only one other business left founded by Cuban immigrants fleeing Castro’s regime in the sixties and seventies. And Emilio, who’s supposed to take over Avalos Bicycle Works one day, is more flight risk than dependable successor. While others might find Emilio appealing, Clary can see him itching to leave now that he’s graduated, and she’ll never be charmed by a guy who doesn’t care if one more Echo Park business fades away.
But then Clary is caught off guard when an unexpected visitor delivers a shocking message from someone she thought she’d left behind. Meanwhile, Emilio realizes leaving home won’t be so easy—and Clary, who has always been next door, is who he confides in. As the summer days unfold, they find there’s something stronger than local history tying them together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Clary Delgado works in La Rosa Blanca, her family's L.A. flower shop. When Jada Morrison walks into the store and introduces herself as Clary's half sister, Clary is unsettled—her mother left when she was young, so Clary was raised by her father and her Cuban grandparents. Unsure of what to do when Jada offers to connect her with their mother, Clary focuses on other things. To honor her Cuban heritage, she embarks on a quest to obtain historic recognition for La Rosa Blanca and Avalos Bicycle Works, the last two Cuban-owned businesses in Echo Park. She's perplexed and annoyed by neighbor Emilio Avalos's plans to leave L.A. following graduation rather than take over Avalos Bicycle Works. Lately, however, she feels as if their relationship is evolving, especially when Emilio offers to teach Clary to ride a bike. Expertly rendered characters and pitch-perfect interactions coalesce into a touching and emotionally satisfying novel by Namey (A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak) in which a small Cuban community forefronts love, unity, and support to navigate the consequences of secrets and the endless possibilities of the future. Ages 12–up.
