{"product_id":"el-cucuy-luis-rubio-9798262152353","title":"El Cucuy: Giving the Ghosts a Name","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor Tony Sandoval, life begins with the smell of a summer monsoon in El Paso. In 1984, his world is the cramped but magical kingdom of apartment #75, a place he shares with his artistic older brother, Gabriel, and his chaotic baby brother, Tuttilo. When a joyous afternoon playing in the rain leads to a humiliating confrontation, Tony's protective mother, Elena, vows to find her family a new home-a place where her sons won't be made to feel ashamed for being children.\u003cbr\u003eIn a new house on a quiet cul-de-sac, Tony forges an unbreakable bond with two other boys, Richard Villalva and Randy Conner. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThey become a self-proclaimed \"Dream Team\", outsmarting teachers and the school's enforcer in a series of secret missions. But on the precipice of junior high, their friendship is shattered by a single act of fear, leaving Tony utterly alone just as he is thrust into a dangerous new world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTony's isolation culminates in a horrific act of street violence, a trauma that silences him for years. He becomes a ghost in his own life, a perpetual freshman failing out of one high school after another, escaping into a psychedelic haze to quiet the memories that haunt him. Alienated from the family that fought so hard for him, Tony drifts through a series of dead-end jobs, a dropout convinced his life is over.\u003cp\u003eA forgotten piece of advice from his brother-\"You gotta give the ghosts a name\" -sparks a last, desperate act: Tony begins to write. This private exorcism transforms him from a dishwasher into a celebrated author known as \"El Cucuy\". But after the ghosts of his past are finally quieted, he faces a new crisis: the silence of a blank page and the fear that he has lost the voice his community is now counting on. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSpanning forty years in the heart of the U.S.-Mexico border, \u003ci\u003eEl Cucuy\u003c\/i\u003e is a sweeping coming-of-age story about the brutal cost of a secret and the redemptive power of giving a name to the ghosts that haunt us. It is a novel about the voiceless, the invisible, and the enduring search for home in a city of phantoms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Luis Rubio\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798262152353\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/25\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 144\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.44lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.31d","brand":"Luis Rubio","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50921131540735,"sku":"9798262152353","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/el-cucuy-luis-rubio-9798262152353","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}