Lolcats. Salsa dancing. Unrequited love. Tom Crosshill's smart and witty
debut teen novel treads a colorful coming-of-age journey from New York
City to Havana that will appeal to fans of books by Matthew Quick and
Junot Díaz.
When Rick Gutiérrez--known as "That Cat Guy" at school--gets dumped on
his sixteenth birthday for uploading cat videos from his bedroom instead
of experiencing the real world, he realizes it's time for a change. So
Rick joins a salsa class . . . because of a girl, of course. Ana Cabrera
is smart, friendly, and smooth on the dance floor. He might be half
Cuban, but Rick dances like a drunk hippo. Desperate to impress Ana, he
invites her to spend the summer in Havana. The official reason: learning
to dance. The hidden agenda: romance under the palm trees.
Except Cuba isn't all sun, salsa, and music. As Rick and Ana meet his
family and investigate the reason why his mother left Cuba decades ago,
they learn that politics isn't just something that happens to other
people. And when they find romance, it's got sharp edges.