Title: Rosa By Any Other Name
Author: Hailey Alcaraz
Genres: Historical
Pages: 416
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Review Copy: Purchased
Availability: Available now
Summary: Rosa Capistrano has been attending posh North Phoenix High School to boost her chances of a college education and a career in journalism, thanks to the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education verdict for desegregation. But though she’s legally allowed to be there, it’s still unsafe for Mexican Americans. That’s why she’s secretly passing as Rosie, a white girl. All she has to do to secure her future is make sure her Mexican home life and her white school experience never intersect.
However, Rosa’s two worlds collide when her best friend Ramon and classmate Julianne meet and find themselves entangled in a star-crossed romance. Rosa is terrified about what their relationship could mean for her and them . . . and her worst fears are soon realized in an unspeakable tragedy. Rosa is thrown into the center of a town-wide scandal and her true identity is put in the spotlight. With the help of Marco, Ramon’s brooding and volatile brother whose passion ignites hers, Rosa must choose what is more important to her—protecting her fragile future, or risking everything to help her friends find justice.
Rosa by Any Other Name is a harrowingly beautiful coming-of-age tale that shines a light on an important and often overlooked facet of US history. An extensive author’s note with research details and a further reading list are included.
Review: [Racism and police violence are significant focuses in this book. There is a smaller subplot that touches on homophobia, which also includes physical violence.]
One of the things historical fiction can do very well is draw parallels to the present by examining how the same (or similar) issues existed in the past. Hailey Alcaraz mentions in her author’s note that she started writing Rosa by Any Other Name in spring of 2020, during the Black Lives Matter protests after the murder of George Floyd. That tie to the recent past is loud and clear in this fictional exploration of 1955 Arizona and the Latine community’s experience of racism, de facto school segregation, and police violence. The fictional newspaper clippings that are sprinkled throughout the book are based on actual articles from the time period, and many highlight the pervasive discrimination against the Latine community in general. And it doesn’t stop in 1955, either—Rosa’s family and community are still feeling the effects of the Los Angeles repatriation raids in the 1930s. Even though the book is focused on Phoenix’s 1950s Mexican American community, there are consistent references to the Black community’s fight for civil rights during this time period and how the two communities had similar, but not always identical, problems and philosophies.
Rosa is an interestingly placed protagonist—in this Romeo & Juliet inspired remix, she is one of several people trying to find purpose and a way forward in the aftermath of the doomed romance. I appreciated her frank assessment of the various dangers she, Marco, her family, and the community in general are in at various points of the book, and it was easy to sympathize with her fear while still rooting for her to figure out what she could do to scrape together some justice for her friends. The triumphs in Rosa by Any Other Name aren’t grand, sweeping systemic changes—they are personal and often rooted in building and maintaining communities. This leaves the book on a hopeful note while reminding the reader that work still needs to be done in the present.
Rosa’s supporting cast offer insights into various issues of the time, from the World War II vets facing discrimination on their return to the U.S. to the start of political organizing in various communities. I quite liked Marco’s involvement in the latter, especially as he offered venues for Rosa to connect with that part of her community when she was functionally isolated a lot due to her passing as white and attending a different school. Their romance as a bit prickly but often sweet, and I appreciated how well their character arcs complemented each other.
Recommendation: Get it now if you enjoy historical fiction. Rosa by Any Other Name explores the discrimination against and organizing of a Mexican American community in the aftermath of racist violence. Rosa’s positioning as a white-passing friend of the Romeo & Juliet-inspired teenagers gives the story an interesting angle from which to look at the impact this violence has on herself and her community.