In René Peña-Govea’s debut novel Estela, Undrowning (Quill Tree, Mar.), Estela Morales, one of the few Latinas at her elite public school, finds herself at the center of a schoolwide backlash and a citywide debate about merit-based admissions when her poem places second in her high school’s Latine Heritage Poetry Contest. “This book grew out of my own experiences attending a San Francisco high school that has been the subject of lawsuits and policy debates within the city, and even the nation, for decades,” says the author, who was born and raised in San Francisco. “I entered high school the year after a court case prohibited the use of racial quotas to balance the school’s diversity, and as a result my freshman class was the least diverse in the school’s history up to that point.”

As Estela wrestles with familial, financial, and academic pressures and the growing urge to speak up about the injustices around her, her poetry gives voice to her emotions. Throughout the novel, there are more than 50 poems written in Estela’s voice, some of which incorporate lines from Peña-Govea’s teenage journals. “It is by writing poetry that Estela se desahoga, a Spanish phrase that means ‘to vent,’ ‘to express,’ or ‘to unburden yourself,’ but which literally means ‘to undrown yourself,’ ” the author says. “I grew up in the Chicané art and activist circles in San Francisco, with musician parents and muralist tías, and have seen how art unites communities in the face of oppression.”

Working on the book with her editor Rosemary Brosnan “still seems like a dream,” Peña-Govea says. She adds that in bringing her debut novel into the world, “all of my big breaks have come thanks to other Latina authors—particularly Malín Alegría, Aida Salazar, and Marisa Catalina Casey—who have generously given their time and expertise. My community has held me throughout this entire process.”

Currently a secondary school librarian, Peña-Govea also performs Latin music in a three-generation family band at libraries, festivals, and parties. She says she wrote the book “for my teenage self and for the teenagers I teach who inspire me.”

Return to main feature.