Juliet Takes a Breath
Indie published in 2016, JULIET TAKES A BREATH was re-published in 2019
by Dial Books, Penguin Random House
THE BOOK
About
Winner of the 2017 Silver IPPY Award for Best LGBTQ Fiction
Juliet Takes A Breath up for has been selected by the Amelia Bloomer Project Committee of the American Library Association(ALA) for the 2017 Amelia Bloomer List
Y’all, Roxane Gay said my book Juliet Takes a Breath was “f*cking outstanding.” So here we are…
“Dazzling, funny as hell, poignant, all the things.”
—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body
“Rivera captures both the disappointments and the possibilities that come with realizing that your life’s solution cannot be figured out by someone else.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Gabby Rivera’s genius lies in her ability to make you weep and laugh in the same paragraph. Juliet Takes a Breath is powerful AF.”
—Zoraida Cordova, author of Labyrinth Lost and Bruja Born
“Juliet Takes a Breath is absolutely breathtaking. This is the homegirl I’ve always wanted to see in literature, made flesh by Rivera’s pen.”
—Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X
“The kind of book that gets the bittersweet pain and longing of growing up exactly right.”
—Lambda Literary
10 Reasons Why You Need To Read Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (if you haven't already!)
1. Juliet Milagros Palante is an unforgettable narrator that you will recognize/love the moment she steps on the page.
2. Juliet’s naïve visions of what things will be like when she meets her favorite author are so damn on target. (“We were going to be like Thelma and Louise minus the part where we drive off the cliff.”)
3. Because Juliet’s take on white feminism and the ways in which it has failed women of color is timely and important.
4. Because Juliet is a body in motion throughout the book which makes for a very satisfying narrative.
5. Juliet is emotionally tough, but not necessarily quick with a comeback. She’s “laid back on the outside, but a nervous asthmatic, panic-baby on the inside.”
6. This book will teach you everything from the history of Puerto Rican revolutionary Lolita Lebrón (Google her) to how to get period stains out of your sheets.
7. Because it has lines like this:
“I fall asleep with that book in my arms because words protect hearts and I’ve got this ache in my chest that won’t go away.”
8. And this:
“It looked like the Salvation Army of bookstores, and who doesn’t love a little dig through salvation?”
9. Because Roxanne Gay called it “fucking outstanding.”
10. Juliet’s rebirth moment will make you cry and the letter she writes to herself contains so much truth you’ll want to tattoo some part of it on your forearm.
List created by Nancy Mercado for Latinx in Publishing
FEATURED IN
Awards and Accolades
KIRKUS
Figuring Out Who You Are
LATINA MAGAZINE
Meet the Queer Latina Behind 2016’S Dopest LGBT YA Book, 'Juliet Takes A Breath'
MIC
25 Essentials Reads to Make Women's History Last Longer Than a Month
REMEZCLA
Novelist Gabby Rivera on Creating a Young Adult Novel With a Queer, Teenage Latina Protagonist
NYLON
10 Books Our Editors Won't Shut Up About
ELITE DAILY
‘Juliet Takes A Breath’ Is The Ultimate Read For Queer Feminists
B&N TEEN BLOG
14 YA Books About LGBTQ People of Color
GAY YA
Juliet Takes a Breath: A How-To Guide for Young Queer Latinas
GAY YA
Being Queer, Being Latino and Being a Reader: One of Many Latinx Narratives.
NBC
9 Great Books by Latino Authors
2017 RAINBOW BOOK LIST
November 2016 Nominee
LATINOS IN PUBLISHING NEWSLETTER
10 Reasons Why You Need To Read Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (if you haven't already!)
AMELIA BLOOMER PROJECT
March 2016 Nominee
IPPY AWARDS
Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Fiction Nominee
NPR
Writer Gabby Rivera Is A True Superhero
NBC OUT
#Pride30: Writer Gabby Rivera Is Bringing LGBTQ Superheroes to Life
TEEN VOGUE
