“The energy. The clarity. The beauty. Elisabet Velasquez brings it all. . . . Her voice is FIRE!”–NYTbestselling and award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson

An unforgettable, torrential, and hopeful debut young adult novel-in-verse that redefines what it means to “make it,” for readers of Nicholasa Mohr and Elizabeth Acevedo.

Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican question asker who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment. Together with her older sister, Estrella, she navigates the strain of family traumas and the systemic pressures of toxic masculinity and housing insecurity in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sarai questions the society around her, her Boricua identity, and the life she lives with determination and an open heart, learning to celebrate herself in a way that she has long been denied.

When We Make Itis a love letter to anyone who was taught to believe that they would not make it. To those whofeeltheir emotions before they can name them. To those who still may not have all the language but they have their story. Velasquez’ debut novel is sure to leave an indelible mark on all who read it.

Elisabet Velasquez is a Boricua writer born in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Her work is featured inMuzzle Magazine, Winter Tangerine, Centro Voces, Latina Magazine, Longreads, We Are Mit, Tidal,and Martn Espada’s anthologyWhat Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump. When We Make Itis her debut novel. Elisabet lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.

• Publisher:Dial Books
• Publish Date:August 30, 2022
• Pages:384
• Dimensions:5.54 X 8.15 X 1.03 inches | 0.72 pounds
• Language:English
• Type:Paperback
• EAN/UPC: 9780593324509
• BISAC Categories: Coming of Age,Novels in Verse, People & Places – United States – Hispanic & Latino