ESTELA, UNDROWNING

Estela is close to reaching her goals, but first she needs to pass her Spanish class.

Estela Morales attends San Francisco’s elite Robert Frost High School. To get in, students must take a test, and so she’s surrounded by competitive high achievers. Estela, who’s Chicana, hits her first academic roadblock when Spanish teacher Sr. Kirkland, “a fossilized white man,” emphasizes formal European Spanish and makes snide remarks about “cultural projects,” conveying his bias against heritage speakers. Estela, who has her heart set on Berkeley, fears for her GPA. A poetry contest on Latiné identity—with a cash prize—at her predominantly Asian and white school leads to accusations of unfairness and heightened racial tensions. As Estela navigates anxiety (including panic attacks), falling in love with Chinese Mexican Rogelio, and her family’s potential eviction, she confronts the deepest parts of herself. Debut author Peña-Govea intersperses Estela’s poems amid the prose. The work is at its strongest when it asks poignant questions about bias, opportunity, and racial inequalities and explores techniques for supporting mental health. First-person narrator Estela’s intense, dramatic inner voice takes center stage, highlighting her angst and emotional extremes. Estela has supportive friends and family, so at times it is hard to understand her actions and motivations and difficult to sympathize with her; struggles with pacing add to this difficulty.

An uneven but passionate coming-of-age story.