Secrets of the Casa Rosada
About this audiobook
Sixteen-year-old Martha and her mother move constantly, never staying anywhere for long. So she knows better than to ask if they’ve been evicted again when her mom says they’re going on a “vacation” to meet the grandmother Martha didn’t know existed.
Laredo, Texas, is like no other city she has seen. Driving past businesses with Spanish names and colorfully painted houses with burnt lawns, Martha can’t imagine her mother living somewhere so ... Mexican. At her grandmother’s pink house, she’s shocked and hurt when her mom abandons her, even though a part of her had been expecting it.
Suddenly Martha must deal with a way of life that is completely foreign. Her grandmother doesn’t speak English, so communication is difficult, and she’s not the typical, sweet grandma who dotes on her grandchildren. Even weirder, it turns out that her grandmother is revered as a healer, or curandera. And there are tons of cousins, aunts, and uncles all ready to embrace her!
At her new school, Martha can’t be anonymous like before because everyone knows she’s Doña González’s granddaughter. Meanwhile, a girl who has it out for her makes things unpleasant. As Martha struggles to adjust to her new life, she can’t help but wonder why her mother left Laredo. No one is willing to discuss it, so she’ll have to unravel the secrets herself.
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About the author
Alex Temblador is a Mixed Latine award-winning author whose debut novel, Secrets of the Casa Rosada, received numerous industry accolades including Kirkus Reviews’ Best of YA Books 2018 and the 2019 NACCS Tejas Foco Young Adult Fiction Award. Her first nonfiction book, Writing an Identity Not Your Own, is forthcoming. Alex is a contributor to Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology, and a travel, arts, and culture writer with pieces appearing in Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and Architectural Digest, among many other publications. She lives near Dallas, Texas. Visit her website at AlexTemblador.com
Frankie Corzo is an experienced narrator and actress who spent her childhood performing in theater productions, commercials, films, and voiceovers. Born to Cuban immigrant parents, she narrates and acts in both Spanish and English. Her work has been added to numerous best of lists, including Audible's for 2017 and 2018. Born and raised in New Jersey, she currently splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.
