An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde brings heartwarming authenticity to the story of two strangers who find that kindness is a powerful antidote to fear. Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn’t belong. Not with his mother’s new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father’s wife. Not at school, where he’s an … father’s wife. Not at school, where he’s an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he’s tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who’s introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez?
Mildred Gutermann, a German Jew who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, has been alone since her caretaker disappeared. She turns to Raymond for help, and as he tries to track Luis down, a deep and unexpected friendship blossoms between the two.
Despondent at the loss of Luis, Mildred isolates herself further from a neighborhood devolving into bigotry and fear. Determined not to let her give up, Raymond helps her see that for every terrible act the world delivers, there is a mirror image of deep kindness, and Mildred helps Raymond see that there’s hope if you have someone to hold on to.
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This book was wonderful. So many characters of such diversity. People caring about strangers and not judging by appearance, but what is found inside.
I enjoy Catharine Ryan Hyde’s books. She writes about social dilemmas in a realistic, yet heart warming way.
It was a very sweet story with 2 very likable characters, who care about one another. Part of it is sad, but, it is also uplifting. Recommend.
This was a lovely story about a boy, Raymond, and his ninety-two year old neighbor, Millie. Raymond does not really feel a part of his mother’s family and he doesn’t feel comfortable at this father’s home either. He doesn’t really have any friends at school, except for one boy, and he has recently moved out of the area. Millie lives in the same apartment building as Raymond, but on another floor. When Millie, who is blind, asks Raymond if he has seen Luis Velez, it is the beginning of a search and a friendship which enriches the lives of two very lonely people. A moving and very well written book. Strongly recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author Catherine Ryan Hyde (whose books I just love), and the publisher Lake Union Publishing, for the free ARC I received in return for an honest review.
What an amazing story!! So in love with Catherine’s writing not only she will make us feel every emotion the character we’re going through but also she will make us think and understand so much about the character’s feelings.
Have You Seen Luis Velez? it’s a very challenging story where we get to encounter so much of today’s society ways of thinking, prejudices, and racism behaviours. Our hearts will break and will feel full of love with this beautiful story.
Raymond was a 16-year-old boy who felt like nobody understood him. His family is divided and his friends don’t have the same taste and likes as him. He was going through life without feeling that he belonged or accepted until one day he met someone who will not only change his life but also will bring more happiness and stability to this new friend.
Have you seen Luis Velez? it’s a story that will show you how much Ray’s parents didn’t know him, he was constantly battling to fit IN, in his mother’s house, With a stepdad that didn’t have any love to give, with a stepmother that felt so threatened by Ray that will make any excuses not to have any contact with him or the coldness of society that didn’t care too much about feelings and justice.
Mrs.G a 90-year-old woman who is alone with a disability that is not letting her continue her life
is desperate to find where is her good friend Luis Velez? She feels lost and doesn’t know how to find him, she barely has anything let to eat and is so afraid to even go outside. Until an angel walked by her door and life and miracles begging to happen.
Have You Seen Luis Velez? is a story of faith and friendship, is a story of how people can have a very different perspective and opinion about the same situation and outcome. is a story of hope, of not giving up no matter how sad and ungrateful life has been.
One of my favorite books by Catherine! really love this book so much.
This one is so incredibly well reviewed that I’m going to skip my summary and get right into my thoughts about this book. Poor Raymond is in a sketchy situation with a step-father who doesn’t care if he’s around or not and a mother who has checked out on parenting. In fact, I couldn’t stand his mother. She didn’t want to parent unless it suited her (by telling Raymond who he should befriend, by ordering him out of the jeans he was wearing so she could wash them, by consistently trying to push him into a relationship when she has no vested interest in him as a person.) So when he meets Mildred, it’s no wonder he finally feels heard and seen.
Mildred is fantastic. She’s the woman we all hope people will be in life. She’s incredibly accepting of anyone, regardless of their background, their race, their beliefs. She sees more as a blind woman than most seeing people are able. She had a way of explaining things to Raymond that he would understand, that made sense to anyone reading the text. I think being able to relate to people of any age is a special gift.
I’m not sure where Raymond got his incredible manners, but they shined through in his respect for others, by calling them, ma’am or sir. When Mildred first made him tea, we read: “Raymond didn’t like tea, but he had every intention of drinking a cup of it. And keeping his feelings about it to himself.” He simply is an amazing young man.
While this isn’t marked as a YA book, it definitely had that kind of feel, (and I found it because I was looking in the YA category and it was recommended as “also boughts”). I found myself highlighting so many portions of the text because it resonated with me, because it was something I would want to emulate, or because I just adored it. This is so well-written, the topics are relative in today’s society (and I had to laugh at the review that was mad at the liberal vs conservative topics in the book), the characters are fantastic, the storyline is engaging and heartfelt, and I am definitely a new fan.
Very touching story about how how kindness can open up the world to you. I loved this story! As with all of Catherine Ryan Hyde’s books, this was very well written, I loved the plot and I fell in love with all the characters.
If I could I would give this more than 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publisher for an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Really good read.
Have You Seen Luis Velez by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a heartwarming book that tackles the ideas of the value of life, privilege, and kindness. I enjoyed the metamorphosis of Raymond and his family relationships as well as those he encounters through the story that help bring about the changes in his perspective. The story begins with Raymond, an awkward teenager, losing a friend and being drawn to an old blind women in his apartment building who asks him “Have you seen Luis Velez?” This leads Raymond on an adventure to find Luis and himself, developing some wonderful friendships along the way. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
This might be my favorite book this year. It had everything- elderly, teenage angst, great characters. Everyone that I’ve recommened it to including my book club has loved it.
I can’t give this one a poor rating — it was super sweet. The premise of the story involves Raymond, a 17 year old biracial asexual boy who does not fit in with his divorced family, rescues stray cats, and befriends a blind older woman in his building (who we later find out is German and escaped the Holocaust). From this first sentence you probably get it, a book with very liberal values and ideas. On meeting the woman, Mrs. G., she is looking for Luis Velez, the man who used to help her on errands and has disappeared. She is down to 1/4 can of soup when Raymond befriends her. Raymond takes over, and takes on the quest to find Luis, meeting many Luis Velez’s in the process, some of whom are kind, and some scary. He does find the Luis in question, who unfortunately has been murdered by a white woman who was fearful the Good Samaritan (he was handing her back a dropped wallet) was trying to rob her. No spoilers here. If you are a liberal person who wants to spend a couple hours feeling good and immersed in a modern day fairytale of a young person doing good, this is a nice book for you. I heartily enjoyed it, while recognizing its shortcomings.
This is a book of rare joy about the condition called life. Do you accept the joy that goes along with grief and despair? Do people really see other people as them versus us? Is life fair?
Raymond is a young seventeen year old dealing with a family that ignores him and at his core, he does wonder if it is because they are white and he looks more like his African American dad that has moved on to a new wife. And to add to that thought, his best friend is moving away and a cat he has been feeding might be caught and totured. And then there is the elderly woman in the hall of the apt. building asking for Luis Velez.
Teens have it hard and some feel they never belong, in their schools, with friends, and their own families… outsiders that are ignored or unseen.
Raymond is a reader, a thinker, and always apologizing for just “being”. Then he takes that step many people never take……he sees the elderly Mrs. G and shows concern for her and her search for Luis.
Between these two totally different people, a community of two developes and by the end, it is a community of many. Raymond rescues the cat, rescues Mrs. G in his own thoughtful way and in turn rescues himself from being invisible to his families.
The kindness he shows does not go unnoticed. And when grief and utter despondency take over, the community of friends step forward and renew the idea that life shouldn’t be wasted, that even at its worst, there can be shimmers of joy.
Smells, sounds, feelings all on display and the fact a person’s reality maybe totally different then your reality….. it should be considered before making judgements.
There is heartbreak and death but there are also new babies, new conversations and people that you don’t know that will come to you with a smile. A sense of community, of what a family is, of when is life fair, of judging oneself to harshly…..it all matters. And this book shows that lighting one candle or smiling at one person or LISTENING really can make a difference and remind you if that one butterfly thousands of miles away that may affect change…..so can you.
Loved the story and many of the characters!
Great book. I highly recommend it! I’m
I’ve read many of the author’s books. She has a knack for knowing how to touch her readers. This novel is no exception.
I love Catherine Ryan Hyde’s books. This one did not disappoint me. Every story is so different. I have recommended this book to many in my family.
Best book of the year. Chosen for book club.
A bit unrealistic that so many people would come together to help a stranger, but heartwarming anyway.
Audible version — I did listen at 1.25x speed, default speed was too slow.
Michael Crouch’s voices are amazing. He does women’s voices as convincingly as men’s. As always, CRH is a wonderful storyteller.
Loved this clear look at society woven into such a lovely poignant story.