A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK Recipient of the 2021 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Medal One of BuzzFeed’s Must-Read YA Books of 2020 A Best Book of the Year: Cosmopolitan * Kirkus Reviews * SheReads * New York Public Library “An engrossing #OwnVoices novel.” –PopSugar “This book will set your dreams on fire . . . It’s fabulous.” — Reese Witherspoon A powerful … will set your dreams on fire . . . It’s fabulous.”
— Reese Witherspoon
A powerful contemporary YA for fans of The Poet X and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line–even her blooming love story–to follow her dreams.
In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.
At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.
On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.
But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol–and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.
Filled with authentic details and the textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action on the pitch, Furia is the story of a girl’s journey to make her life her own.
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“Lies have short legs.”
That is the opening sentence of Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez. Camila Hassan says this proverb and opens a window into her double life as an Argentinian high school student by day and a Futbol player known as Furia after school. Camila has kept her secret of playing Futbol from her parents and in the shadow of her brother, Pablo. He is a good player and has ambitions of turning pro. Camila’s parents will not allow her to play Futbol and want her to excel academically and become a doctor. However, she has dreams of playing in the United States for the best women’s soccer league.
Camila plays on a local team that qualifies for the South American tournament. This tournament will bring much needed notoriety for her and the rest of the team. However, when Camila’s first love, Diego Ferrari, returns to town as an international Futbol superstar, it complicates her life.
She is trying to juggle these various aspects of her life before they all crash down on her. Of course, the unavoidable happens and Camila has to make a major decision if she truly wants to fulfill her dreams as Futbol player. The truth of her secret life is revealed to her parents and the consequences of that admission turns violent.
Mendez tells a thought-provoking story about the importance of never letting go of one’s dreams, despite the opposition from those who are the closest to you. Also, she does an excellent job with pulling me into the world of Argentinian Futbol and gets me to care about most of the characters. Camila, Diego, and her mother are the characters I connected with the most throughout the novel.
Furia is an excellent first novel by Yamile Saied Mendez and I’m looking forward to reading more stories from her in the future.
BOOK FEATUREu2009
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You’ve probably heard that Reese Witherspoon has just selected Yamile Saied Méndez and FURIA as her second ever Reese’s Book Club YA Pick! The news brings much deserved attention to this AMAZING contemporary YA book and INCREDIBLE #OwnVoices author. In addition, FURIA is on Buzzfeed’s “30 Books by Latinx Authors we Can’t Wait to Read in 2020” and had a stunning cover reveal by BookPage. For links to these articles, purchase and author info., use my bio link. u2009
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ABOUT THE BOOK u2009
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Filled with the authentic details and textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action, FURIA is the riveting, radiant story of one girl’s struggle to rise above the expectations her family and society have for her.u2009
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Camila Hassan lives a double life. At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father. On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far her talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university, but the path ahead won’t be easy. Her parents, who don’t know about her passion, wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. Meanwhile, the boy she once loved, Diego, is not only back in town, but has also become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Things aren’t the same as when he left: Camila has her own fútbol ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, she is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and passion of a girl like her.u2009
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REVIEW u2009
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Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own. u2009
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I am no athlete, and I have zero knowledge about soccer. This, however, in no way diminishes my respect and admiration for Camila. She has a big life changing dream for herself-to play soccer on a higher level, a scholarship to university, etc. Camila is, unfortunately, a girl in an Argentinean culture that sees girls as less than boys. As such, girls do not play soccer in the manner Camila (secretly) does. She is La Furia on the soccer field, but nowhere else. u2009
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Women have a place, and Camila has chosen to abandon it. Violence against, rape and disappearances of girls and women is not uncommon, nor is it seen as a great loss. Camila wants a different life- one she has earned and loves. u2009
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So many things are stacked against Camila, such as her abusive father, and escape from this male dominated society seems impossible. On top of all this, throw in a love interest. Now, what should Camila do? Keep fighting for her dreams? Give up and accept fate? What would you do? u2009
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Furia is an amazing story of resilience, determination and courage. Camila is a force of nature, and an example of what unstoppable looks like. The author unflinchingly shows the stark reality of women in Argentinean culture. It is a shocking and sharp edged revelation. Here’s hoping Furia will shine some light on this terrible issue so all may see.
Amazing!
What a powerful book for girls and women to read. A wonderful YA, coming of age, feminist book set in Argentina, all about a girl’s dream of playing soccer (Argentina Futbol). But it’s not only about soccer. It’s about the darker parts of life in Argentina, a family that is scared of their father mixed in with a little bit of childhood romance. This book is not only empowering for #ownvoices females, but for ALL females with a dream.
Camila “La Furía” Hassan has been keeping a secret from her family. She has been playing on a local soccer team with other girls that have a passion for the game. Her parents have only let her older brother pursue his love of soccer because “girls don’t play sports” after a certain age. But Furia is just that. She has a passion and we get to see it played out on the field. The images the author uses to describe her playing style just flows right off the page. I could see Camila on the pitch and being taken over by her love of the game. I was there and I saw the passion dripping from the pages. This wasn’t just a game, this was a way of life for her and she was going to make it happen any way she could. But keeping it a secret from her family won’t hold for long once her team qualifies for the big SudoAmerican tournament.
“We’d made the space. We’d filled in the cracks of the system and made room for ourselves where there was none. No one had given us anything. We had taken it. But no one wanted to hear the truth.”
But Camila’s love of the game is further complicated by a childhood friend that returns home to visit Argentina from Italy where he is playing professional futbol. Diego and Camila have grown up together along with her brother. But he wants more from her and she isn’t sure if he is enough. She wants futbol AND Diego. Can they survive distance and a difference in opinion? Or will Camila continue to carve out her own path?
I loved the messages in this book and I loved how strong of a character Camila was. Her strength passed onto her brother, her mother, her teammates, and even to a child she ended up teaching. The way Argentinian life was portrayed was heartbreaking, but obviously real and something that I’m glad the author addressed. She didn’t shy away from the hard subjects, but dealt with them carefully without going too deep into the matter. This was a girl’s story. A girl’s dream. A girl’s fight to conquer what she had set out to do with so many hurdles in her way. I enjoyed each moment of it, even when life got hard.
This book has so much passion put into it and you can feel it. I hope many girls with dreams and with goals will get their hands on this book. It’s needed in this day and age when much of what women here is ‘you can’t do that’. Yes, YOU CAN! And you will!
Highly recommend this powerful and stunning book by Yamile Saied Mendez
“I don’t want you to save us, at least not in the way everyone else does. I want you to break the cycle, Camila.”
There is nothing more I enjoy reading than a powerful #OWNVOICES novel about a young woman who is able to rise above societal expectations to navigate her own path to adulthood. This book was written in a first person narrative that was completely relatable that many young adults and many readers will find themselves immersed within this amazing story of strength, resilience, coming-of-age, in a society that is deeply patriarchal and sexist.
Camilla is an obedient daughter at home under her abusive father and a brother who is rising soccer star. In the field and in futbol, Camilla is knows as LA FURIA – she is an amazing talent and a powerhouse! With this talent her doors open to many opportunities and one of which is a chance for an athletic scholarship in North America.
Mendez wrote this fantastic novel with the delightful details of everyday life in Argentina. I myself was immersed into Camila’s life, her struggles, her secrets, dreams and passion – the unfairness, and what she had to do to rise above it all. This book brought tears to my eyes as I see how certain societies still think women as a second class citizens and not given all the opportunities and chances. This was truly a powerful read that resonated and stayed with me long after I finished reading. I highly recommend this fantastic book.