Frontera by Julio Anta

Frontera

A Graphic Novel

Julio Anta, Jacoby Salcedo

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · July 18, 2023

2024 Eisner Award Nominee for Best Publication for Teens 2024 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2024 Children’s Book Council’s Young Adults' Favorites Award 2024 Texas Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Mateo makes the dangerous journey back home to the United States through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo, in a supernatural borderland odyssey by debut graphic novelists Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo.

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Who it’s for
A desert-crossing graphic novel where supernatural unease meets urgent questions of survival.
Genres
YA Paranormal Comics, Immigration for Teens, YA LGBTQ+ Comics
Published
HarperCollins, July 18, 2023

About this book

2024 Eisner Award Nominee for Best Publication for Teens 2024 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2024 Children’s Book Council’s Young Adults' Favorites Award 2024 Texas Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Mateo makes the dangerous journey back home to the United States through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo, in a supernatural borderland odyssey by debut graphic novelists Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo.

Continue reading

As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert that will take him from Mexico to the United States. That is, until he’s caught by the Border Patrol only moments after sneaking across the fence in the dead of night. Escaping their clutches comes at a price and, lost in the desert without a guide or water, Mateo is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat that is sure to arrive come sunrise. With the odds stacked against him, his one chance at survival may be putting his trust in something, or rather someone, that he isn’t even sure exists. If you’d asked him if ghosts were real before he found himself face-to-face with one, Mateo wouldn’t have even considered it. But now, confronted with the nearly undeniable presence of Guillermo, he’s having second thoughts. Having spent his afterlife guiding migrants to safety, Guillermo knows things about the Sonoran Desert far beyond what could be explained by a mere hallucination. But even as Mateo forms an uneasy partnership with Guillermo, survival is still uncertain. The Sonoran Desert, with its hostile temperatures and inhabitants, is teeming with danger as the Border Patrol and rogue militias prowl its deadly terrain. As his journey stretches on, Mateo will have to decide exactly what and who he’s willing to sacrifice to find home.

Across the Borderland

A desert-crossing graphic novel where supernatural unease meets urgent questions of survival.

Come here for

  • A tense supernatural edge to a story of migration and survival
  • The uneasy companionship of a migrant and a ghostly guide

Expect

  • Desert danger, border patrols, and a perilous route home
  • A sustained graphic-novel journey with survival at stake

Where it sits

YA LGBTQ+ Comics66%
Immigration for Teens51%
YA Paranormal Comics25%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • YA Adventure
  • YA Action & Adventure Comics
  • YA Coming-of-Age Comics
  • YA Fantasy Comics
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • YA LGBTQ+ Comics
  • YA Paranormal Comics
  • YA Fantasy
  • Historical YA
Authors
Julio Anta, Jacoby Salcedo
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
July 18, 2023
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
YA Adventure