GLORIA BUENROSTRO IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND

A boy befriends the most beautiful girl in school, hoping to get in with the popular crowd.

It is the summer before junior year, and Gary Võ and best friend Preston are ready for a change. Being working-class Vietnamese American kids at a mostly White school in a wealthy neighborhood means they are always on the outside. So, when Gary runs into Gloria Buenrostro, his accomplished, popular Mexican American classmate, making deliveries of altered clothes and tamales in his neighborhood, he takes the opportunity to get to know her. When the popular boys catch wind that Gary is hanging out with Gloria, they offer him and Preston the opportunity to join their club, the Rooster Society. All Gary has to do is steal the silver bracelet Gloria always wears as a trophy for the society’s collection of possessions taken from “the hottest girls in school.” As the summer goes on, Gary and Gloria become close and open up to each other. With mounting pressure from Preston and the Roosters, Gary struggles with his desire to be popular and the potential loss of a real friend. This is a sincere story of unexpected bonds and self-discovery. The lightness of the summer adventures is balanced by raw, honest conversations and depictions of Gary’s poverty and Gloria’s parents’ conflicts. Mental health and toxic masculinity are also explored throughout the novel.

A moving story of true friendship.