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"An absorbing page-turner, equal parts light and dark, and filled with the sweetest, swooniest ache. Everyone needs to read Jenny Torres Sanchez. Now." -JENNIFER NIVEN, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe

From the backyards of suburban Florida to the parched desert of New Mexico, Because of the Sun explores the complexity of family, the saving grace of friendship, and the healing that can begin when the truth is brought to light.

Dani learned to tolerate her existence in suburban Florida with her brash and seemingly unloving mother by embracing the philosophy Why care? It will only hurt. So when her mother is killed in a sudden and violent manner, Dani goes into an even deeper protection mode: total numbness. It´s the only way she can go on.

But when Dani chooses The Stranger by Albert Camus as summer reading for school, it feels like fate. The main character´s alienation after his mother´s death mirrors her own.

Dani´s life is thrown into further turmoil when she is sent to New Mexico to live with an aunt she never knew she had. The awkwardness between them is palpable. To escape, Dani takes long walks in the merciless heat. One day, she meets Paulo, who understands how much Dani is hurting. Although she is hesitant at first, a mutual trust and affection develops between them. And as she and her aunt begin to connect, Dani learns about her mother´s past. Forgiving isn´t easy, but maybe it´s the only way to move forward.

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"Sanchez expertly conjures the eerie sense of being a stranger in one´s own life." -Michael L. Printz Honor Winner JENNY HUBBARD

"[An] emotional, beautiful novel about loss and forgiveness, love and hate." -LAUREN GIBALDI, author of Autofocus

"The author´s dreamlike language is at once beautiful and brutal. This lyrical coming-of-age story effectively explores the complicated nature of love and grief." -Kirkus Reviews

"Explores tragic loss and the human ability to overcome it." -SLJ

"A beautiful and moving tale that accurately captures the complications and dysfunctions of different families and examines how to slowly rise above the past and create a future." -Booklist

"Strange and stunning. You´ve never read anything like this." -JESSICA MARTINEZ, author of Kiss Kill Vanish

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JENNY TORRES SANCHEZ is a full-time writer and former English teacher. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived on the border of two worlds her whole life. She lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and their children. Because of the Sun is her third novel.

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