Down Garrapata Road — Anne Estevis

Fiction. Anne Estevis was raised and educated in Corpus Christi, Texas and now teaches elementary through graduate school in New Mexico and Texas. In this tender debut novel, a medley of young voices bring to life a small Mexican-American community in South Texas during the 1940's and 1950's. In this untouched world, young men depart for World War II, whispers of El Chupasangre (the blood sucker) crawl across the countryside, a brother sacrifices the little money he has for a pastel dress for his sister, and one young girl makes a painful mistake when she disobeys her parents for a tryst with her boyfriend. Anne Estevis brings to life a generation of voices of young people on the brink of change and conflict, and the coming of age of a traditional community in the modern world.