WHEN THE WORLD WAS HAPPY

A young man and his loving family are deeply affected by an act of violence.

Seventeen-year-old narrator CheChe and his twin sister, Emma, are brainy, vulnerable, and honest. They’re aware of how their school librarian mother and renowned artist father have created a home life for them in El Paso, Texas, that’s as beautifully rare as it is fulfilling. The first section of the book is leisurely, allowing readers to become immersed in the siblings’ literature-centered lives. Their beloved Nana and Tata live with them, they dote on their Yorkshire terrier, and their Mexican heritage is an integral part of their lives, along with an understanding of what it means to be Mexican American. The second part of the story tells, with poignance and brutal realism, of a school shooting—an act of hate that changes their world forever—and the third explores how they reckon with the fallout of this event. Vignettes imbued with lightness, humor, and unabashed earnestness appear throughout, illustrating in vivid strokes the ways that love and the will to live prevail. Over time, the siblings become a sort of chosen family for Spigot, a schoolmate who interns with their dad. Sáenz explores the enduring friendship CheChe has with his best friend, J (both boys are gay), and a sweetly real romance develops between CheChe and Placido, a boy from his school.

A lyrical novel about an unforgettable family maintaining their humanity in the aftermath of tragedy.