Cuban-American community is backdrop for novel about lesbian teen

An interesting bit about a new book.

From School Library Journal:

Cruelly outed by a teacher, Laura Amores is kicked out of her home in Mayra Lazara Dole’s Down to the Bone (HarperTeen, 2008). In Miami’s Catholic Cuban-American culture, “tortilleras” are morally depraved. Laura moves in with best friend Soli, and surrounds herself with new friends including Tazer, a transgendered Cuban lesbian. After much vacillation, Laura officially comes out to herself and others, defying her mother’s manipulations and rejection. The Miami Cuban community offers an evocative backdrop to the story and Dole fills Down to the Bone with sassy characters and fresh dialogue. Themes of social class friction, racial diversity, relations within the LGBTQ community, and the use of sexual slurs are topics that sociology and communications classes can explore.

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