Down to the Bone - Mayra Lazara Dole (Updated June 2012)

Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole
There are only a few books I would go back and revisit to review, this is one of them. 17 yr old Laura gets kicked out of Catholic school, after a nun discovers a love letter from her girlfriend and reads it to the entire class. Laura's mother kicks her out for being a degenerate. Laura moves in with her best friend Soli and her mother Viva. Away from home Laura explores her sexual identity. Slowly becoming a part of the gay and lesbian community.

Everything I loved about this story the first time, still holds true the second time around. Laura is a great main character. You can feel her struggle to find where she fits. As well as come to terms with her mother's feelings. There are also some great and very supportive secondary characters. Through everyone's story Dole introduces the reader very naturally to the Cuban gay scene. The stories flow is beautiful and is not hindered by the basic cultural and LGBT references the author had to use since its the first (and still only) YA novel featuring a lesbian Latina. Down to the Bone is a damn good first. It's damn good period.

A revised edition of Down to the Bone will be released next month, July 2012.  It is being published by Bella Books.   An excerpt

"This is an expanded Author’s Edition paperback reprint of the original hardcover, first published by HarperCollins in 2008. According to Bella Books, this Author’s Edition “has been substantially altered with more than 20% of the original content expanded or revised.”

I love the new cover so much, I had to tell the author.  

So glad you liked cover. made my day. i love it too. What I'm mostly excited about is that Down to the Bone earned out its Harper Collins advance (I keep reading that approximately nine out of ten authors in these times do!). what makes me ecstatic about this is that teens who needed the book got a hold of it and want more. also thrilled that i was able to rewrite, update and make the second edition edgier, for older teens.  

Mayra Lazara Dole also as a story in the newly released, The Letter Q " Queer Writers Notes To Their
Younger Selves, edited by Sarah Moon and James Lecesne

Just for fun I will add a Hidden Giveaway to this update,
 The first person to leave, hidden giveaway winner in the comment box and email me with hidden giveaway winner in the subject line I will send them a copy of Down to the Bone.  Only open to people residing in the  Continental U.S.  Open from June 19 -June 29.  So if you leave a comment after the 29th no libros gratis.