Matt Mendez
The Broke Hearts
(Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, October 2023)
Read the Writer’s Life Profile of Matt Mendez onĀ Shelf Awareness
Read Matt Mendez’s Guest Post onĀ The Nerd DailyĀ
Read The Interview With Matt Mendez onĀ Young Entertainment Mag
In this piercing follow up toĀ Barely Missing Everything, JD and Danny, still reeling from the gutting death of their best friend by police gunfire, grapple with life-changing decisions and the kind of people they want to be, for Juan.
A year after losing their best friend, JD and Danny are still brokenhearted. JDās impetuous decision to join the Air Force only makes him yearn for ābeforeā more than ever. Danny, whoād rather paint murals than open a book and certainly never thought of himself as college material, makes the equally impulsive choice to do what Juan will never be able to and enrolls in a community college.
Dannyās father, The Sarge, is proud of him for the first time ever for living out Sargeās own dream of being a first-generation college student, but Danny canāt shake the thought that it should be Juan, not him. And studying hasnāt gotten any easier for him despite his new academic goals. When Danny is on the verge of flunking out and JD gets notified of imminent deployment, the two are forced to confront their shared grief that led them to these paths. Can they learn to live lives that are their own inĀ honorĀ of Juan, rather thanĀ forĀ him?
Like his characters, Matt Mendez grew up in central El Paso, Texas. He received an MFA from the University of Arizona and is the author of the short story collectionĀ Twitching HeartĀ and young adult novelsĀ Barely Missing EverythingĀ andĀ The Broke Hearts. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. You can visit him at MattMendez.com.