With Love, Echo Park by Laurie Taylor Namey - OPTIONAL

With Love, Echo Park by Laurie Taylor Namey, 320 pages. Atheneum BYR (Simon), 2024. $20

Language:  R (63 swears, 8 ‘f'); PG-13 (Appropriate age level kissing); Violence: G (none)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

17yo Clary and Emilio are lifelong residents of Echo Park in Los Angeles, CA. Their Cuban families migrated to Echo Park in the 1960s and set up businesses: a floral shop and bicycle shop, two of the last Cuban owned businesses in the area. Both Clary and Emilio are hard workers and huge assets to their family businesses. Clary is steadfast and looking forward to inheriting La Rosa Blanca. Emilio feels trapped at the thought of taking over Avalos Bicycle Works. A prominent Echo Park resident dies and at his funeral a visitor arrives who will shake up and perhaps alter things for determined Clary.

Namey’s depiction of Echo Park is alive with music, food, and cultural richness. The neighborhood is more than a setting - it’s a living memory of love, loss, and heritage. The story’s Latino representation feels deeply authentic, and the weaving of family dynamics, cultural identity, and healing adds depth to the story.With Love, Echo Park is a story about reconnection—both with others and with oneself. The romance is tender and believable, but it never overshadows the protagonist’s internal journey. Instead, it tells about building trust, navigating grief, and learning to hold joy and sorrow together.Namey’s writing is thoughtful yet realistic showing the vulnerability of teenage emotion with moments of happiness. Fans of her previous work will appreciate her continued ability to portray young women with depth, strength, and emotional honesty.Perfect for fans of Latina stories/novels, With Love, Echo Park is a quietly powerful novel about the spaces we live in and the people who help us navigate life and home.

Bryant Baird, Librarian