Chillona -- Ellie Lopez, Paperback

In Chillona, Ellie Lopez crafts a powerful debut that pulses with heart, humor, and hard-won wisdom. With sharp language and a deep fluency in pop culture, Lopez captures the complexity of being an eldest daughter in a Mexican American family navigating life in the Bay Area. Her poems are both tender and unflinching, unspooling the emotional weight of diaspora with fearless vulnerability. Each piece invites the reader into intimate moments-joy, grief, rage, and resilience-rendered with lyrical precision. CHILLONA is a vibrant, unforgettable testament to survival, identity, and the beauty of letting oneself feel it all.