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“Questions of family, religious faith, and belonging drive a complex and moving coming-of-age that’s distinguished by vividly drawn characters and kinetic prose.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Moya’s portrayal focuses on widespread racism toward Mexican immigrants, poor conditions for farmworkers, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. . . . Conveys a strong sense of place.”

—Kirkus Reviews

Monarchs in the Wild

Written by Israel Moya
Published by Tu Books

In the summer of 1994, seventeen-year-old Cal ”California” Garcia can’t seem to escape the gossip and horrified looks of his fellow La Sombra residents. They judge him on nothing more than the long scar on his face, his beat up ’68 Mustang, and always being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Cal constantly feels like he’s been set up to fail. His father left his family after the tragic accident that gave him his scar. His mother spends all her time at church, enchanted by the words of a crooked pastor. And his new-old Mustang brings more trouble and chaos than it’s worth. Everything about being in La Sombra tells him he is and always will be a nothing. But as his senior year is coming to an end, his life is turned drastically upside down. Out by the railroad tracks, Cal finds Nora, valedictorian Nora, fallen off a bridge. The monarch butterflies stitched onto her jeans are seared into his memory forever. Having found her body, Cal becomes a person of interest in Nora’s suspicious death.

As Cal tries to escape suspicion, an opportunity for a way out of La Sombra emerges from nowhere, and Cal is forced to choose his own fate. Will Cal finally decide who he is and where he wants to be? Or will he let circumstance choose for him and live his life as just another statistic in a farm-worker town?

Primary ISBN: 9781643797526
Publication Date: June 2026
Available As: Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
Young Adult, Age 13 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Setting: United States (California)

Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Unknown Arrival

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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