Estela, Undrowning

In her raw and resonant debut novel, René Peña-Govea seamlessly interweaves prose and poetry to uplift the power of language, the courage to fight injustice, and the complex beauty of finding your people—perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X and Carolina Ixta’s Shut Up, This is Serious. 

Estela Morales is one of the only Latinas who tested into San Francisco’s most exclusive public high school. In her senior year, Estela just wants to keep her head down, eke out a passing grade from her racist Spanish teacher, and get into her dream college. 

But after placing second in the Latiné Heritage Poetry Contest behind a non-Latino student, Estela is thrust into citywide debates about merit, identity, and diversity.

Things only get messier when her family is threatened with eviction. As Estela’s friends organize against bigotry and her landlady increases the pressure, Estela is suffocating and finds release only in poetry and in a breathless new romance. When tensions finally reach their breaking point, Estela must find a way to undrown the community she loves—and herself.

"Estela, Undrowning is a flood rush to the heart! A compelling, nuanced, beautiful story of the complexity of growing up Chicana in San Francisco in a system that seeks to drown us with classism, racism, and in-fighting. Estela’s struggles with anxiety, friendship, cultura, and new love, offers young readers powerful and poetic ways to reckon with, resist, and change our world for the better. It rises from the depths and lifts us all." - Aida Salazar, author of the Pura Belpre Honor book Ultraviolet and the Caldecott Honor book, Jovita Wore Pants

“Heartfelt and beautifully written, Estela Undrowning features a flawed protagonist trying to navigate a flawed world--in other words, it’s a highly relatable story of change, struggle, and growth, both personal and systemic.“ - Randy Ribay, National Book Award finalist for Patron Saints of Nothing

“What a joy to witness Estela’s journey as she interrogates not only the unjust systems around her but what role she can choose to play in their dismantling and transformation. In Estela Undrowning, Peña-Govea offers a beautiful balm, a powerful wake-up call, and a fierce rallying cry at time when we need it most.” - Natalia Sylvester, Pura Belpré Honor-winning author of Breathe and Count Back from Ten and Running

"Estela, Undrowning is an unflinching tribute to Frisco, the soul of San Francisco. Against the backdrop of gentrification, cultural erasure, and a high school hostile to Black and Brown students, Peña-Govea’s brilliant debut novel reveals poetry's unstoppable force." - Dickson Lam, author of Paper Sons

"In Peña-Govea’s arresting debut, Estela contends with complex questions regarding love and sexuality, identity, and how to use her voice to enact change, she comes to understand the value of imperfection and growth. It’s both a poignant reflection on young adulthood and a joyful celebration of adolescence that challenges stereotypes and engenders hope." - Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"Hand this to teens hungry for realistic fiction with rich, complex characters, and multifaceted drama." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

"Through a gorgeous blend of prose and verse, Peña-Govea delivers a timely and impactful story about personal growth and combating harmful systems of oppression that encourage self-hatred and racial in-fighting." - Booklist (starred reviews)

"First-person narrator Estela’s intense, dramatic inner voice takes center stage, highlighting her angst and emotional extremes...The work asks poignant questions about bias, opportunity, and racial inequalities and explores techniques for supporting mental health." - Kirkus Reviews

"Peña-Govea renders a sweaty and combustible city full of passionate and complicated characters who defy tidy characterizations, tackling prickly conversations about identity with care and academic-level precision. Estela's world overflows with diverse ethnic backgrounds, gender expressions, and sexual preferences that, in less sensitive hands, could feel token or flat. But Peña-Govea writes with such confidence that her characters realistically, fiercely wrestle with nuanced conversations, allowing for a classic bildungsroman with modern vitality." - Shelf Awareness