Shut Up, This Is Serious

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection | An Amazon Books Best Book of the Month

★ “A stunning debut from a powerful new voice.” — Kirkus Reviews
★ “Compassionately wrought... [An] unforgettable debut.” — Publishers Weekly
★ “Ixta’s debut will leave many shedding tears over this emotionally captivating tale.” — Booklist
★ “Readers will be inspired by Belén’s path to healing but not before it makes them ugly cry.” — School Library Journal

Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant– by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist. 

Things are hella complicated. 

Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of classes. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?

From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.

On sale January 9, 2024.

Advanced Praise for Shut Up, This is Serious

“Carolina Ixta is a master storyteller.” — Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Pura Belpré award winning author

“An unabashedly funny and honest depiction of Oakland, girlhood, and friendship.” — Leila Mottley, New York Times bestselling author

“I love these complicated, smart, and funny characters.” — Kali Fajardo Anstine, National Book Award Finalist

Immerse yourself in the sounds and feelings of Belén’s world.

Listen to music evocative of the iconic radio station KBLX.