Books Like Ander & Santi Were Here
Families who loved Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Families who loved Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when your teenager is grappling with the weight of first love, the beauty of self-expression, or the anxiety of a world that feels increasingly precarious for marginalized communities. It is a vital resource for parents whose children are navigating their gender identity or seeking to understand the harsh realities of the immigration system through a lens of empathy rather than statistics. The story follows Ander, a nonbinary muralist, and Santi, an undocumented waiter, as they fall in love in San Antonio. Beyond the romance, the book explores how art serves as a sanctuary and a form of protest. It is a deeply moving, mature contemporary novel that honors the intensity of teenage emotions while providing a realistic look at the systemic forces that threaten chosen families. Choose this to normalize nonbinary identities and to spark meaningful dialogue about justice and belonging.
