Down to the Bone

Synopsis:

Here's what it means to be a tortillera.

It means you're a girl who loves girls.

Which means you get kicked out of Catholic school faster than Mother Superior Sicko can say "immoral."

Which means your wacko Mami finds out.

Which means you're kicked to the curb with nowhere to go, and the love of your life is shipped off to Puerto Rico to marry a guy.

But this is Miami, and if you have a bighearted best friend and a loyal puppy at your side, and if your broken heart is still full of love, you just might land on your feet.

Review:
When I found this book I was hoping she would be willing to send it to me. It sounded so good that even is she hadn't it would have been moved to the top of my lists. Needless to say, I have not been let down by this book. My original excitement still exist and I am sad to finish it, I wanted the story to keep going. First of all, it is not your typical plot, at least to me. It is about a Cuban girl, Laura, who has kept her two year relationship with her friend, Marlena, completely secret from her family and friends. When she is found to be reading a note turning class her life is handed such a spiral that she stats to second guess herself.

Another aspect I loved about this book is the characters; each and every one had a very unique personality and they all stood out in their own way. But the plot is what really got me. I have read books about gay relationships and have always enjoyed them, so that is not what got me...it was the latino aspect that was thrown into it. It made me see into a world I had no idea about, unless you count an ex-boyfriend as getting to know that culture (lol). Of course I knew people did not accept having homosexuals as part of their families, but this took it to a whole new extreme. This girl was discharged from her school, her family, and her friends for being unnatural, abnormal, however you want to twist it. Then everything that went on with Marlena after all of the drama is just a kick in the butt for her.

The ending was all feel good and such, which I think was befitting of this book. Though you might not have thought it would be after reading through until the very near end. Overall, I loved this book. I have to admit, I don't know whow many of my friends will read this book, as when I said what it was about they just put it down. Which is kind of disappointing but I think when they hear how great I thought it was, they will have a change of heart. This is not just a book about gay relationships and gay culture, this is about family and what defines a family. You live through the up and downs of a teenage girl who should just be enjoying life, not acting beyond her years. This is a fantastic coming of age story that I think, once people get wind of it, will become a very popular.