Seventeen-year-old Alonda is a straight-A pupil who by no means will get in bother and does no matter her strict, overprotective guardian, Teresa, asks of her—all whereas preserving her goals locked up tight inside. But when the sweltering June warmth has her fleeing to the window of her Coney Island residence in search of a cool breeze, Alonda spots one thing that sends these goals tumbling out into the open: 4 teenagers working towards skilled wrestling on the playground under.
It takes Alonda per week to work up the nerve, however she introduces herself to the ragtag group, and shortly she’s becoming a member of them. In between her chores and her new job at a close-by amusement park, Alonda cuts promos (the speeches that set up characters and the non-public stakes of matches), perfects hip tosses and hurricaranas and types deep friendships with King, Lexi, Spider and Pretzel. But determining her personal wrestling persona, the titular Alondra, is tougher, as a result of Alonda isn’t certain what she desires. Is it to wrestle in entrance of a crowd of adoring followers? Is it doing what her mom, who died when Alonda was 7, would have needed? Is it to pursue her attraction to King, the good-looking self-proclaimed antihero of their group, or her emotions for Lexi, the creative in-ring superhero?
Award-winning playwright Gina Femia’s first YA novel, Alondra, is a fast-paced, queer homage to summer time in Brooklyn. Alonda and her band of hardworking misfit wrestlers are well-crafted and grounded, and Femia captures their shut connections as she locations them in dramatic but acquainted conditions: making artwork, preventing with mother and father and caregivers, deciding what school to attend and exploring who they might be in the event that they allowed themselves to be something. Readers will yell, cringe and cheer as Alonda finds her bisexuality and her voice, as her mates discover their footing as a troupe and as her guardian, Teresa, finds self-confidence after years of shouldering her burdens alone.
Alondra is ready in 2015, which prevents Femia from referencing the quite a few feminine skilled wrestlers who achieved widespread reputation after shifts within the trade, starting in 2016, resulted in higher assist of feminine expertise. Instead, readers will discover mentions of figures akin to John Cena, Eddie Guerrero and AJ Lee, which can make the novel really feel dated for teenagers deep within the wrestling fandom. However, Alonda’s love for wrestling’s technical elements, from the way in which her mates edit their video packages to the bruises she earns whereas squaring up with Lexi, shines via and acts as the right backdrop for her inner struggles with id.
Like the very best skilled wrestling performances, Alondra is a heartfelt story that gives a practical but blissful expertise.
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