Laua is expelled from school for not revealing her girlfriend's name after a confiscated email. Her dramatic mom finds out she's doing the fuiqui-f...
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Dec 04, 2011
Nancy
rated it: 
Laura is a junior in a Catholic high school looking forward to summer and to celebrating her two-year anniversary with her girlfriend, Marlena. Instead, she is humiliated when her teacher reads a love letter from Marlena out loud in front of all her friends, resulting in her expulsion from school and in the loss of her friends. Her mother has thrown Laura out of the house, promising that she can return only when she reveals the name of her secret lover and changes her ways.
Laura mo More...
Laura mo More...
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Apr 27, 2009
Mickey7
rated it:
Down to the Bone is an excellent book.....the life story of lesbians and guys...what they have to face in the real world....Once you start reading it you can't put the book down until you finish....I caught myself reading til 4AM in the morning having to get up at 6AM....IT IS A TRUE STORY THAT HAS EVERYTHING....HUMOR, SARCASIM, EXCITMENT, VERY FUNNY, LATIN FLAVOR....AND MOST OF ALL THE TRUTH. A must read.
May 05, 2008
Ariel
rated it:
Compelling! It'll captivate you and take you on an emotional ride from beginning to end. I couldn't put it down! It starts with a kiss, but unlike Snow White who’s kissed by a prince and brought back to life, Laura’s kiss by another girl turns her life upside down. The characters are all Latino. They leap off the pages and are by far the best I've ever read in a YA novel. This is is no fairy tale, yet the author, like a fairy godmother, skillfully adds magic ingredients that'll make you laug
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 09, 2009
Liz
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Review by Liz Bradbury, Author of the lesbian mystery romance series - Maggie Gale Mysteries
Written for young adults, this facepaced novel about a 17-year-old Cuban - American “tortillera” (the Cuban slang word for dyke) who gets caught in her Catholic school reading a love letter from her girlfriend, grips you from the first page and doesn't let you go. The main character Laura, is not only thrown out of school but tossed out of the house by her mother, who says she can't love Laura More...
Written for young adults, this facepaced novel about a 17-year-old Cuban - American “tortillera” (the Cuban slang word for dyke) who gets caught in her Catholic school reading a love letter from her girlfriend, grips you from the first page and doesn't let you go. The main character Laura, is not only thrown out of school but tossed out of the house by her mother, who says she can't love Laura More...
Apr 03, 2011
Lauren
rated it: 
There were plenty of sympathetic characters in Dole's YA debut, but odd choices in story-crafting made this a slower read than I would have liked. Main character Laura's attempts to balance her acceptance of her sexuality with her need to feel loved by her family fuel the novel, and there were a lot of situations and issues here that I hadn't seen explored in other GLBT YA novels, such as Laura's having been in a long-term lesbian relationship before starting to explore the gay community, and he
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Nov 19, 2010
This book was about a girl,Laura, that was just starting to figure out who she really was. She lost alot of friends over this but they obviously weren't true friends if they didn't hang around, her mother after finding out her daughters true self disowned her too. Her mom thought she was a disgrace to her family and to everybody else. After getting kick out of her house she moved in with her bestfriend and her bestfriends mom. Laura, then got a job working with her ex's uncle doing landscapi
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Sep 07, 2010
LaKiera Bailey
rated it: 
Down to the bone is a book about a girl named Laura, who is in a relationship with a girl. She was truely in love,then the girl moved and married a man. Also Laura's crazy mother finds out that she is a tortillera (cuban slang for disgusting dyke) and kicks her out the house. Then she refuses to love her again until she becomes straight. Laura then has to move with her best friend Soli and Soli's mom. They show her real love and change her in ways they don't even know. She no longer feels sa
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Oct 01, 2009
Wdebo5487
rated it:
*Copied directly from my review on my blog (sorry, I'm busy :P)
This book was interesting (to put it simply). There was a certain awkwardness to it, but it was still good. The writing was good and the narrator, Laura, was raw and talks from her heart, which is good, none of that mysterious feeling crap that is in some books. Which I hate because you have no idea what the character is thinking, and they are suppose to be the MAIN CHARCTER and yet you have no idea what they're like.
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This book was interesting (to put it simply). There was a certain awkwardness to it, but it was still good. The writing was good and the narrator, Laura, was raw and talks from her heart, which is good, none of that mysterious feeling crap that is in some books. Which I hate because you have no idea what the character is thinking, and they are suppose to be the MAIN CHARCTER and yet you have no idea what they're like.
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Jan 15, 2010
Thomas
rated it: 
Laura attends a Catholic high school and is almost done with her junior year; like most teenagers, she is looking forward to her summer break - where she has her family and a nice job awaiting her. Not only that, but it's almost her two year anniversary with her girlfriend, Marlena. Unfortunately, Laura is caught reading a love note from Marlena during class. Not only does her teacher confiscate it, but she also reads it aloud to her entire class. Even though Laura is mortified and almost pees h
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 08, 2008
Liz
rated it:
I just finished reading Down to the Bone and I loved it. I thought it was a poignant, moving story about love, friendship and family interlaced with humour. Some wonderfully expressive writing too. Great dialogue.
Gay or straight, Down to the Bone is about what we all want and need – to be loved unconditionally for who we really are
Gay or straight, Down to the Bone is about what we all want and need – to be loved unconditionally for who we really are
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Mar 20, 2008
Nancy
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Cuban-American teen Laura gets thrown out of school and home all on the same day, when her relationship with another girl is discovered. She and Marlena are forcibly separated, and Laura must decide whether going straight, if she can pull it off, is worth it, in order to be allowed home. Interesting issues of class and culture come up.
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Apr 04, 2010
Lydia
rated it:
This is a powerful book about a teen lesbian coming to terms with her sexual orientation and identity within the heavily religious (Catholic) Cuban culture in Miami. The opening takes your breath away as you experience the ultimate humiliation, sitting in your uniform, as the nun reads your love letter from your lesbian partner of two years. From there, you know it is not going to get better any times soon.
Despite the painful opening and the wrenching middle, the ending of this book More...
Despite the painful opening and the wrenching middle, the ending of this book More...
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(2 people liked it)
Aug 27, 2008
Teresa
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This book will strike a chord with anyone who is or has been a teen. Mayra Dole has woven a moving and funny story with lively and unique Miami characters. It encompasses some essential elements: love, rejection, humor, and determination. I enjoyed it immensely!
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Jul 31, 2010
Kelly
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 10, 2011
Catherine
rated it:
I debated about the 4th star, but decided it was because I had just finished Torn. Down to the Bone is a story about a Cuban-American teenage girl living in Miami in the process of coming out. The story is told over a year, so you get a feel for her process and also get to know other teenage girls in her queer community (femme, butch, genderqueer, and boi), as well as supportive straight friends. Laura struggles with her love for her mother and brother and trying to figure out her sexual orient
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Jul 18, 2010
Jennifer W
rated it:
An OK story. Cuban-American Laura has been in a relationship with Marlena for two years when a nun at her Catholic school finds a love letter and she gets kicked out of school and home. Marlena then is sent to Puerto Rico to marry a guy. Laura spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out her sexuality and discovering the teen gay scene in Miami. The writing around her confusion and hurt is realistic enough, but the interactions with her friends was sometimes corny. I probably would have giv
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Feb 19, 2009
Melody
rated it:
I'm deeply conflicted about this book. While I loved the exuberance and sheer playfulness of the writing, it wasn't particularly tight writing- there was much meandering and several odd dangling plot elements. There is a lot going on in this book, some of which rings achingly, miserably true. The friendship between the main characters is lovely. It must be insanely hard to grow up gay and Cuban-American, and I think this book is a very welcome addition to the small body of literature for teens l
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Jan 23, 2009
Angela
rated it: 
By trying to fill the void where lesbian characters of color should be in YA lit, Doyle seems to have tried to cover every possible problem one could face as a lesbian teen of color, creating a book that is certainly filled to overflowing with colorful characters, but becomes a bit of a mess along the way. Here the whole plot focuses on being gay, rather than a gay character leading the story.
Additionally, way too often the writing was weak and sloppy, telling us about the characters More...
Additionally, way too often the writing was weak and sloppy, telling us about the characters More...
Jul 28, 2009
Wow, first book to which I have given 0 stars on Goodreads. I picked this up randomly at the library because it seemed promising, and there is definitely a need for YA fiction about queer youth of culture. But the characters are more like lists of attributes than real people, and somehow Dole missed that intro writing class adage, "show don't tell." I'm sure there are queer kids who will identify with Laura's struggles to accept her lesbian identity and find love and a sense of fami
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Jan 08, 2009
faelinwolf
rated it:
Know what I really liked about this book? It talked about transgender issues without making it seem totally weird and freaky. There was even a prominent character who was transgendered.
I didn't like the tone about bisexuals as much, but that could have been the reflection of the culture's feelings on bisexuals as well, which is cool. And hey, at least they talked about bisexuals and there were bisexual characters!
Very sweet book about one young woman's coming out proce More...
I didn't like the tone about bisexuals as much, but that could have been the reflection of the culture's feelings on bisexuals as well, which is cool. And hey, at least they talked about bisexuals and there were bisexual characters!
Very sweet book about one young woman's coming out proce More...
Jun 24, 2009
J.M.
rated it:
At 17, Laura Amores is a Cuban teenager in Miami who attends a Catholic high school. But when she is caught reading a letter from a friend and not paying attention to the class, the nun reads the letter aloud. Turns out, the missive is from Laura's girlfriend, and details an intimate relationship Laura has kept hidden from everyone.
Suddenly friends Laura has known her whole life turn on her. Her own mother is mortified at her immoral behavior and throws her out of the house, refusing More...
Suddenly friends Laura has known her whole life turn on her. Her own mother is mortified at her immoral behavior and throws her out of the house, refusing More...
Oct 25, 2008
Abby
rated it:
Everything changed for Laura the day her teacher read her love letter out loud. Laura's been dating Marlena for two years on the sly and suddenly the whole world knows she's a tortillera, a girl who loves girls. Laura's expelled from school and her mom kicks her out. Then Marlena is shipped off to Puerto Rico to marry a boy. But although she's hurting, big-hearted Laura's got a support network to hold her up while she figures things out. And eventually she'll figure out who she is and who will l
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Dec 21, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
How mortified would you be if one of your teachers read one of your private notes or letters out loud in front of the class? Take that mortification times one hundred, and that's what happens to Laura Amores on the last day of class. Except this letter is from her girlfriend and describes in detail their forbidden love. By the end of the school day, previous friends have deserted her, the nuns at her school have expelled her, and her mother has More...
How mortified would you be if one of your teachers read one of your private notes or letters out loud in front of the class? Take that mortification times one hundred, and that's what happens to Laura Amores on the last day of class. Except this letter is from her girlfriend and describes in detail their forbidden love. By the end of the school day, previous friends have deserted her, the nuns at her school have expelled her, and her mother has More...
Mar 29, 2009
Jill
rated it:
Ehhh... there is definite value in writing for gay kids who aren't white. And I learned plenty of Cuban Spanish, and Cuban-American-Teen slang, which was amusing. Other than that, however, it mostly follows the same plotline that other gay-teen books do, which, while comforting, isn't enlightening. There's only so much gay-teen angst you need while an adult. So I'd recommend it to gay teems who are at this stage, but maybe not adults. Unless you haven't had your dose for the year. :)
Jul 05, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
This one was, to say the least, a little afield from what I normally read. when I do pick up YA books, they usually have either wizards or dystopian futures in them. Down to the Bone has neither of those; just a teenaged girl trying to navigate the tricky paths of love, sexuality, and identity in a Cuban neighbourhood in Miami.
What really sold me on this book was the culture that it's steeped in - from the food, to the language, to the way the characters interact with each other, More...
What really sold me on this book was the culture that it's steeped in - from the food, to the language, to the way the characters interact with each other, More...
Mar 12, 2008
Sarah
rated it:
Another angsty book about coming out... Because, you know, gay people can never just BE GAY while also being the main character. It has to be an "issue" book. Of course we also had the necessary lesbian-gets-assaulted-by-homophobic-man scene too, because You Can't Be Gay and Have a Normal Life. And also the story about the transgendered teen who killed herself when her dad was awful to her, because Queerness Is A Problem.
*sighhhhhhhhhh* and i had such high hopes...
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*sighhhhhhhhhh* and i had such high hopes...
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Nov 29, 2009
Mandy
rated it:
This book is amazing. I believe it deals with just about every view of being homosexual as possible and it shows a different kind of family that is even more close knit than the ones you're born with. Tragedy, broken hearts, and rebirth and finding of the true self... cultural issues and gay issues, family issues... they're all there. The book is wonderful in showing the love people are capable of. Maybe if more people read things like this when they were younger, hate crimes would be less c
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