Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

A Novel

By: Jonny Garza Villa

Narrated by: Avi Roque

A poignant, funny, openhearted novel about coming out, first love, and being your one and only best and true self.

Julián Luna has a plan for his life: Graduate. Get into UCLA. And have the chance to move away from Corpus Christi, Texas, and the suffocating expectations of others that have forced Jules into an inauthentic life.

Then in one reckless moment, with one impulsive tweet, his plans for a low-key nine months are thrown - literally - out the closet. The downside: the whole world knows, and Jules has to prepare for rejection. The upside: Jules now has the opportunity to be his real self.

Then Mat, a cute, empathetic Twitter crush from Los Angeles, slides into Jules’s DMs. Jules can tell him anything. Mat makes the world seem conquerable. But when Jules’s fears about coming out come true, the person he needs most is fifteen hundred miles away. Jules has to face them alone.

Jules accidentally propelled himself into the life he’s always dreamed of. And now that he’s in control of it, what he does next is up to him.

©2021 Jonathon A. Garza. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Narrator Avi Roque's light, husky voice brings both warmth and gravity to Jules's first-person narration, keeping listeners invested even when times get tough. Roque also displays vocal versatility, particularly during conversations among Jules and his friends wherein each character's voice is recognizable amid exclamations, pop-culture references, and casual switches between English and Spanish. Altogether, it's a moving and genuine listening experience.”—AudioFile Magazine

“Garza Villa’s debut is buoyed by tenderness and humor amid moments of deep pain…An open-hearted expression of love in its many forms.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Although parts of the story are heartbreaking and heavy, they are balanced with humor and hope, giving queer teens of color opportunities to see joy and love reflected back to them. Tender, touching, hopeful, and hilarious; enthusiastically recommended for all collections.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

Lovely!

Great growing up, coming out, sweet and adorable book! Great narration! Kept me listening and having fun! :)

Heartfelt and heart wrenching

Such a beautiful ya coming of age and coming out story with multicultural representation and a raw insight on homophobia machismo in latine cultures.

Absolutely incredible

This is an incredibly sweet, engaging, and relevant coming out story, steeped in Mexican and Vietnamese culture. This book is exactly what I look for in a YA book. It’s age appropriate while not being childish or infantilizing, and covers topics, emotions and experiences that adults can relate to as well.

I really loved the found family aspect of this book. There were some painful moments between Julián and his father, but every beat of the book was balanced between realistically sad and challenging, and hopeful and positive.

My other favorite part of this book is the food! From vegetarian takes on Mexican tamales and Texas mac n cheese, as well as Vietnamese Goi Cuon and Banh Bao. Food is absolutely a love language for me and my family (including my Vietnamese in-laws) so I especially enjoyed the scenes in the kitchen and over meals.

Nostalgia!

Being a gay male and not coming out til after high school this story is very inspiring and wholesome and I laughed and cried and wanted to punch Jules’ dad in the face (#iykyk)

10/10

This was so good! It got me all emotional and sniffling, especially the stuff with the grandpa! I really liked the relationships with the friend group too, and how well they all were at communicating their feelings.