Oye

Por/by MELISSA MOGOLLÓN

Un debut fascinante e innovador sobre una adolescente, su impredecible familia y los secretos que guardan.
 
Luciana es la menor de una numerosa familia colombiano-americana en el sur de Florida, pero en medio de una crisis debe convertirse en la única voz razonable de su entorno familiar y lidiar con su excéntrica abuela, que se niega a seguir la orden de evacuación ante la llegada de un huracán.

El huracán no es el único peligro. La glamorosa y despreocupada vida de la abuela se verá cimbrada por un grave diagnóstico médico que prefiere ignorar. Para colmo, decide mudarse con Luciana, que tendrá que hacer de cuidadora, traductora y guardar el cada vez menos disimulable secreto de la enfermedad, mientras lucha con sus propios desafíos adolescentes, con una hermana que vive lejos, una madre insensata y, en general, con una familia disfuncional.

Estructurada como una serie de conversaciones telefónicas en las que solo escuchamos una de las voces, Oye está llena de referencias pop y de modismos zennials. Disruptiva, inolvidable, a ratos hilarante y a ratos triste, es el retrato de una generación, pero sobre todo el de una joven que, obligada a madurar, descubre en sí misma una fuerza insospechada.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A young woman reckons with her unpredictable family and therevelation of their long-buried history in this wildly inventive debut,which reads like a comic coming-of-age story, a telenovela, and amoving intergenerational saga all rolled into one.

"Yes, hi, Mari. It’s me. I’m over my tantrum and finally calling you back. But you have to promise that you won’t say anything to Mom or Abue about this, okay? They’ll set the house on fire if they find out... And you said that you weresitting, right? Because this is about to be so much more absurd and dramaticthan you think."

Luciana is the baby of her large Colombian American family. And despiteusually being relegated to the sidelines, she now finds herself as the only voice of reason in the middle of their unexpected crisis. Her older sister, Mari, isaway at college and reduced to a mere listening ear on the other end of their many phone calls, so when South Florida residents are ordered to evacuate before a hurricane, it’s up to Luciana to deal with her eccentric grandmother ,Abue, who’s refusing to leave. But the storm isn’t the only danger. Abue, normally glamorous and full of life, is given a crushing medical diagnosis. While she’d prefer to ignore it and focus on upholding her reputation and her looks instead, the news sets Abue on her own personal journey, with Luciana reluctantly along for the ride.

As Luciana chronicles the events of her upended senior year over the phone to Mari, Abue moves into her granddaughter’s bedroom and their complicated bond intensifies. Luciana would rather be skating or sneaking out to meet girls,but Abue’s wild demands and unpredictable antics are a welcome distraction from Luciana’s misguided mother, absent sister, and uncertain future. Forced to step into the role of caretaker, translator, and keeper of the devastating secrets that Abue begins to share, Luciana suddenly finds herself center stage, facing down adulthood—and rising to the occasion.

Structured as a series of one-sided phone calls, Oye feels like the most captivating conversation you’ve ever eavesdropped on: a rollicking, heartfelt,and utterly unique novel by an author as original as she is insightful.