Canto Contigo

A Novel

De: Jonny Garza Villa

Narrado por: Alejandro Antonio Ruiz

“Alejandro Antonio Ruiz embodies all of the roiling emotions in this compelling queer teen love story.”—The Children’s Book Review

"Ruiz’s masterful narration captures all the anger, tension, and banter...Ruiz yells, cries, whispers, laughs, and sings, revealing all the many layers to Rafie and Rey’s story."—AudioFile

When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face.

In a twenty-four-hour span, Rafael Alvarez led North Amistad High School’s Mariachi Alma de la Frontera to their eleventh consecutive first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional; and met, made out with, and almost hooked up with one of the cutest guys he’s ever met.

Now eight months later, Rafie’s ready for one final win. What he didn’t plan for is his family moving to San Antonio before his senior year, forcing him to leave behind his group while dealing with the loss of the most important person in his life—his beloved abuelo. Another hitch in his plan: The Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores already has a lead vocalist, Rey Chavez—the boy Rafie made out with—who now stands between him winning and being the great Mariachi Rafie's abuelo always believed him to be. Despite their newfound rivalry for center stage, Rafie can’t squash his feelings for Rey. Now he must decide between the people he’s known his entire life or the one just starting to get to know the real him.

Canto Contigo is a love letter to Mexican culture, family and legacy, the people who shape us, and allowing ourselves to forge our own path. At its heart, this is one of the most glorious rivals-to-lovers romance about finding the one who challenges you in the most extraordinary ways.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A queer love letter to mariachi music and culture." - Kirkus, Starred Review

"In their third teen romance, Garza Villa orchestrates another masterpiece about queer youth redefining traditional customs in Texas." - Booklist, Starred Review

"Positing that love and joy are life’s greatest experiences, Garza Villa (Ander & Santi Were Here) crafts an earnest story that is both a quiet exploration of grief and a fierce rivals-to-lovers romance that centers the intensity and importance of passion." - Publishers Weekly

"With song and snark, Jonny Garza Villa has captured my heart yet again! Never have I rooted for two rivals more than with Rafie and Rey. This exploration of family, mariachi, and the difference between reputation versus expectation will stay with me for a long time." — Jason June, New York Times bestselling author of Out of the Blue

"Like Rafie and Rey when they first meet, this book swept me away from the very beginning. Jonny Garza Villa vibrantly blends mariachi, magical realism, first love and grief into a story about the ways that taking time to mourn is essential to being true to ourselves in life. Also: someone please make this book into a movie asap because I need to hear these songs performed the way only Rafie and Rey could." — Natalia Sylvester, Pura Belpré and Schneider honor-winning author of Breathe and Count Back from Ten

“Canto Contigo’s explorations of first love, fresh grief, and the pressures behind building legacy sing together in perfect harmony. Another heartfelt, humorous, and healing story from Jonny Garza Villa that is guaranteed to stick in readers’ heads like their new favorite song.” -Racquel Marie, author of Ophelia After All

"Canto Contigo seamlessly blends love and hate, longing and grief, into the perfect anthem of young love that'll leave you begging for an encore. Jonny Garza Villa's done it again (make me cry)!" — Emery Lee, author of Café con Lychee

I was HOOKED! Amazing book.

I finished this book in a week! It was incredibly good! I adore this author, and the narrator did an exceptional job narrating the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the characters and the way they navigated through grief and emotions. I also appreciate the representation in the book. It’s a fantastic read!

Damn B

This story put me through all the feelings! And the voice reading it really did an amazing job.

The soul, love, acceptance

I hope that this book saves a young person’s life. To know that loving is loving,..man to woman or man to man (boy to boy). This story was so affirming of one boy’s love for another. Ever so grateful for this story,..this book…the writer and the one who read it. THANK YOU.

Beautiful story of a home town!

Being from SA it was super cool hearing all the spots and dates they went to and knowing exactly what they meant. Listening to their story go thru its many ups and downs was so beautiful! Can’t wait to listen to more 🩵

Just wonderful.

While the story circled around a bit at the beginning and got a bit repetitive at times, overall the heart in this story is what made it great. The narration was EXCEPTIONAL and I was a total mess many times over while listening to this. Absolutely a wonderful story and I would highly recommend it.