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    The Making of Yolanda la Bruja
    The Making of Yolanda la Bruja
    The Making of Yolanda la Bruja
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Making of Yolanda la Bruja

    Written by Lorraine Avila

    Narrated by Lorraine Avila

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Elizabeth Acevedo has said that reading Lorraine Avila feels like an “UPPERCUT to the senses.” We couldn’t agree more. We have never encountered an author with prose of this sensitivity and fire.

    Yolanda Alvarez is having a good year. She’s starting to feel at home at Julia De Burgos High, her school in the Bronx. She has her best friend Victory, and maybe something with José, a senior boy she’s getting to know. She’s confident her initiation into her family’s bruja tradition will happen soon.

    But then a white boy, the son of a politician, appears at Julia De Burgos, and his vibes are off. And Yolanda’s initiation begins with a series of troubling visions of the violence this boy threatens. How can Yolanda protect her community, in a world that doesn’t listen? Only with the wisdom and love of
    her family, friends, and community—and the Brujas Diosas, her ancestors and guides.

    The Making of Yolanda La Bruja is the book this country, struggling with the plague of gun violence, so desperately needs–but which few could write. Here Lorraine Avila brings a story born from the intersection of race, justice, education, and spirituality that will capture readers everywhere.

    Editor's Note

    Singular voice…

    Yolanda Alvarez sees foreboding visions when a new student arrives at Julia De Burgos High School, and she must draw on the wisdom of her family, friends, and bruja ancestors to prevent the worst. Avila uses Yolanda’s singular voice as a deaf, queer, Afro Latina teen to explore vital themes like gun violence in America and how certain perspectives are ignored. “The Making of Yolanda la Bruja” celebrates community and legacy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 27, 2023
    ISBN9781705099315
    The Making of Yolanda la Bruja

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    Reviews for The Making of Yolanda la Bruja

    4.5/5

    19 ratings5 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a practical and timely story that is interesting and teaches valuable lessons about life. They appreciate the positive message and find it worth revisiting.

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Its was very interesting story about her we should learn how things will change in our life and we should have to be ready for everything thanks
    • 5/5
      nice one. i will heared again and again. all things best
    • 5/5
      Just a practical ,timely advisable story.i like it..and i would like to heard onece more
    • 3/5
      [2.75 stars] The author explores an array of timely societal problems using a creative storyline. Unfortunately, the narrative is way too long, meandering and annoyingly preachy in one too many spots. This is yet another instance of a book that would have been so much more impactful with a tighter, more focused approach. On the plus side, Avila examines the issues of gun violence and mental illness in a unique narrative.
    • 5/5
      "This is a place where an entire race has oppressed and sat above the rest. On this land, the blood-spills always bubble back up to the surface, and instead of cleaning it, the oppressors constantly cover it with cement."

      The Making of Yolanda La Bruja by Lorraine Avila was my first read for Caribbean Heritage Month and it was pure perfection. The story focuses on Yolanda, a deaf Afro-Dominican teenager who is coming into her ancestral power while navigating her own anxieties about feeling that a new white student is a possible threat to her school community. She is wise beyond her years and has a heart for her Bronx community and high school made up of mostly Black and Brown students.

      I loved Avila's deep exploration of themes of racism, gun violence, mental health, social and restorative justice, activism, spirituality, disability, feminism & misogyny, white supremacy and colorism and anti-blackness in the Caribbean. Her passion for youth shines through and is evident in the way she tells this story through the perspective of Bronx, NYC teenagers. It's authentic, heartfelt, gut wrenching and emotional. It really highlights how racist institutions fail BIPOC students, create anxieties and fears and silences victims. But Avila still finds ways to show teenage joy, laughter, discovering love, friendship and the ways communities of color pull together and heal.

      Avila also does a great job of showing how Black women are not believed, especially if they don't conform to societal standards of behavior & spirituality. Avila celebrates Afro-Caribbean spirituality practices & gives validity to their power in helping communities in very real ways. This book would be a powerful tool in the hands of youth because of how it voices how gun violence in suburban schools has bled into the inner city. It's also a nice reminder of how much teachers care but are limited in what they can do for student safety. I'm left pondering how true social justice would look like if the affected communities were allowed to lead these movements, not the rich & politicians motivated by pandering.

      Thanks to @levinequerido for the gifted copy. I highly recommend you go grab a copy.