Name: Fiebre Tropical
ISBN: 9781936932757

Juliana Delgado Lopera

"In this novel told in Spanglish, fifteen-year-old Francisca is uprooted from her life in Bogotá, Colombia, and moves with her family to Miami, Florida, where she is ushered into an evangelical church and falls in love with the pastor's daughter" --

Fiebre Tropical

Pilar Finuccio

Back in Colombia during the weekly school mass, whenever I searched for spiritual or moral guidance, the image of the bloody, bearded, and let's not forget -hot Son of God shook me back to my senses: stop kissing the Salserín posters, Francisca, He died for you. And although my religious skepticism started at the age of eleven when I began falling asleep during mass, stealing my tías' cigarettes, and rubbing myself on the edge of the bed, the crown of thorns created a fear so deep I found myself praying unconsciously after each sin.

Juli Delgado Lopera

Lit by the hormonal neon glow of Miami, this heady, multilingual debut novel follows a Colombian teenager’s coming-of-age and coming out as she plunges headfirst into lust and evangelism. “Ebullient and assertive. . . . Francisca’s soul stinks up the place beautifully in Fiebre Tropical.” —The New York Times "Juli Delgado Lopera—remember that name—is an irreverent, shameless and disarming new novelist. They are a merciless satirist in control of a pitch-perfect voice that makes an indisputable case for Spanglish as the perfect vehicle to express what we are really like right now." —NBC News “A layered portrait of exile, sexual awakening, and family bonds.” —The Millions “Fiebre Tropical crackles and hums like neon, embedding contagious energy in the coming-of-age story of Francisca.” —Them Uprooted from her comfortable life in Bogotá, Colombia, into an ant-infested Miami townhouse, fifteen-year-old Francisca is miserable and friendless in her strange new city. Her alienation grows when her mother is swept up into an evangelical church, replete with Christian salsa, abstinent young dancers, and baptisms for the dead. But there, Francisca also meets the magnetic Carmen: opinionated and charismatic, head of the youth group, and the pastor’s daughter. As her mother’s mental health deteriorates and her grandmother descends into alcoholism, Francisca falls more and more intensely in love with Carmen. To get closer to her, Francisca turns to Jesus to be saved, even as their relationship hurtles toward a shattering conclusion.

Fiebre Tropical

Reviews

Highlights