Libertad

Libertad tells the story of a high school senior, Libertad, as she navigates life in Tegucigalpa, Honduras during a presidential election that is causing protests across the city. During this Libertad is also navigating her queer identity and what that means for her in her relationship with her family and friends. Libertad is dreaming of a future in which she doesn’t hide who she is or worry about her loved ones being killed for speaking up, a life outside of Honduras. As this is happening, Libertad's family faces a tragedy amid the presidential election and she has to learn how to move forward when she’s lost someone so important to her. 

What I Liked: This is a book that I was skeptical about opening up just because of the length of the book and the topic. I knew that this was going to be a heavy book from the description of it but I never expected it to cover so many things. This book covers political corruption, queerness, friendship, family, and more. 

I appreciated the way the author handled sensitive topics and kept everything realistic. I liked the initial response that we received from Libertad’s mom when she found the texts from another girl about a kiss that they shared. The response spoke directly to me and said so many of my family's concerns out loud that they never shared. I appreciated getting to follow as Libertad figured out her queerness and feelings for Dani and Cami but this wasn’t central to the story. The story was so much more than just about these relationships so I appreciated that it wasn’t overshadowed by this. 

I loved the relationship that Maynor and Libertad had throughout the story, because of this the loss was felt much stronger. I loved how much Libertad relied on Maynor and how he taught her about the political sphere and what was happening. I loved that he shared things about himself with her that he didn’t trust others with, like how he shared his love for journalism. 

I liked how the author included some pieces in the book from Maynor’s perspective so we got to know him as well. We also got to know a little about Maynor from the grandma’s point of view and his mom’s point of view too. 

Final Verdict: Libertad is a great story that shows what politics can look like in another country, and sometimes we forget how privileged we are to be in the United States. This book is a great book for teenagers who are interested in social justice and/or political climates.