This dazzling YA cli-fi written in prose and verse will speak to any reader struggling with the state of our world and how to understand their place in it."In outer space, no one will know me as the girl with the dead sister."Seventeen-year-old self-proclaimed Goth and aspiring writer Julieta Villarreal is drowning. She’s grieving her twin sister who died in a hit-and-run, her Florida home is crumbling under the weight of climate disaster, and she isn’t sure how much longer she can stand to stay in a place that doesn’t seem to have room for her.
Then, Juli is recruited by Cometa, a private space program enlisting high-aptitude New American teens for a high-stakes mission to establish humanity’s first extraterrestrial settlement. Cometa pitches this as an opportunity for Juli to give back to her adopted country; Juli sees it as her only chance to do something big with her life.
Juli begins her training, convinced Cometa is her path to freedom. But her senior year is full of surprises, including new friendships, roller skating, and first love. And through her small but poignant acts of environmentalism, Juli begins to find hope in unexpected places. As her world collapses from the ramifications of the climate crisis, Juli must decide if she’ll carry her loss together with her community or leave it all behind.
Told in gripping prose interspersed with poems from Juli’s writing journal, this genre-bending novel explores themes of immigration, climate justice, grief, and the power of communities.
Gloria Muñoz is the author of
Your Biome Has Found You and
Danzirly, which won the Ambroggio Prize and the Florida Gold Medal Book Award for Poetry. She is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow, a Hedgebrook Fellow, a Macondista, a Highlights Foundation Diverse Verse Fellow, and a part of Las Musas.
This Is the Year is her debut novel. Visit her online at gloriamunoz.com and on Instagram at @bygloriamunoz.
"With young people increasingly despondent over deteriorating environmental conditions,
This Is the Year offers a pure gust of hope in an increasingly fractured and warming world. It is at once a cautionary futuristic tale and a balm for despairing hearts. Muñoz's tremendous poetic talent, relatable characters, and the unique premise of a space program for immigrant teens make this debut one you don’t want to miss.
This Is the Year is essential reading for anyone struggling to believe their small actions can make a meaningful difference in the climate emergency." —Nora Shalaway Carpenter, award-winning author of
The Edge of Anything "Gloria Munoz has created a beautifully crafted debut novel unlike any out there. Told in stunning prose and poetry, this dystopian tale of grief set in a crumbling city introduces us to a compelling young heroine found in a Latina goth named Julieta.
This Is the Year will linger in your thoughts way after the last page is read." —Lilliam Rivera, award-winning author of
Never Look Back "Packed with lyrical prose and moving poetry,
This Is the Year deftly explores grieving the people and places we once called home. This unflinching tale of loss also sparkles with the joys of first love, the beauty of friendship, and the resilience in our communities. Muñoz leaves readers with a soaring hopefulness that lingers long after the final page is turned." —Jessica Parra, author of
Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success and
The Quince Project. "Hauntingly beautiful and profoundly moving,
This Is the Year reminds us that even in the face of unimaginable loss, there is always a glimmer of hope. A story that will stay with you long after the last page." —K. X. Song, New York Times bestselling author of
The Night Ends with Fire. "Muñoz’s debut is a skilled novel that balances the grief of losing a sibling against the backdrop of an Earth that is slowly dying. Muñoz asks the main character, Juli, and the reader, will we continue as we are, lost in a future that was promised and not delivered? Or will we fight to live in this world? Told in a mix of prose and verse,
This is the Year is an authentic exploration of depression with a powerful message of unabashed hope." —Mia García, author of
The Resolutions and
Even If the Sky Falls
