Diamond Park

Phillippe Diederich

A fast-paced YA novel about four Mexican-American teenagers from Houston, a '59 Chevy Impala, and a murder that changes their lives forever.Flaco isn't the kind of kid who gets in trouble. He doesn't want to give his mom or his aunt Ana Flor any grief-they've had enough since his cousin Carlos died serving in Afghanistan. But he finds a whole lot more trouble than he bargained for when he and his friends Tiny, Magaña, and Susi ride the bus from their Houston neighborhood to Diamond Park to buy a used car. And not just any car-a 1959 Impala convertible, a dream car. The transaction gets complicated fast, and Susi ends up with a knife in her hands, covered in blood. When Tiny has to disappear to avoid ICE, Flaco and Magaña head south in the Impala to set things right. In a wildly impetuous move, the two boys cross into Mexico hunting for a trafficker named Anaconda, the man they believe is the real killer, to clear Susi's name. In a breathtaking, seat-of-your-pants adventure they manage to kidnap him but in the process they discover how little they ever actually understood about what really happened in Diamond Park.

Part coming of age, part caper. Diamond Park offers a wild ride and compelling look at a cast of Latinx teens not often seen in YA.Acclaimed author with breakout potential. Phillippe Diederich has published two well-reviewed novels with Cinco Puntos. A nunaced depiction of contemporary Mexican-American identity. In Flaco and Magaña, Diederich creates rich portraits of young men coming to terms with with their Mexican-Americanness and their masculinity.Diederich is also photojournalist who's lived and worked throughout North America. His stories are richly detailed with a keen sense of place.