by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Published by Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins, 2019
364 pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-269131-6
Age 14 and older
Daniela and her
family illegally crossed the border into Medio when she was small. At 12, with
forged citizenship papers, she was accepted into the Medio School for Girls,
where students are groomed for one of two roles: Primera or Segunda—first or
second wife—to the sons of wealthy, politically connected families, roles with
origins in their culture’s creation story. Primeras are intellectual confidantes
who support their husband’s career; Segundas emotional and romantic companions.
Now graduating, Dani has been chosen as Primera to Meteo Garcia, son in a
powerful family with Presidential aspirations for him. Dani’s arch enemy at
school, Carmen, has been chosen as Mateo’s Segunda. La Voz, a resistance group
protesting border regulations and immigrant crackdowns, recently provided Dani
with better forged papers, but at a price: They want her to spy for them in
Mateo’s household or risk losing all that her parents have sacrificed to give
her. Mateo is cold and threatening, while Carmen unexpectedly evolves into a
friend, perhaps even someone Dani can trust. As Dani discovers Mateo’s role in
increased hostilities against protesters, she struggles to balance protecting
her secret against acting as her conscience dictates. She’s also navigating
feelings for Carmen that are turning from a tentative bond of trust to strong
romantic attraction. Political intrigue set in an unspecified Latinx culture
merges with budding romance in a tightly-paced plot that races to its cliff-hanger
finale and has strong parallels to tensions in our world today. (MVL) ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
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