Boys of the Beast

by Monica Zepeda

Genres: YA Coming of Age

Synopsis

THE ROUTE.
1,700 miles from Portland, Oregon, to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
THE BEAST.
Grandma Lupe’s 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.
THE BOYS.
Three strangers who also happen to be cousins:
Matt. Evangelical Christian. Earnest. Film nerd. Carrying a dream to make movies—despite the future his father has planned for him.
Ethan. Jewish. Gay. Sci-fi nerd. Carrying a phone that contains his entire relationship with Levi—unless they finally get to meet IRL on this trip.
Oscar. Stoner. Smartass. Too cool to be a nerd. Carrying a letter that haunts him—no matter how hard he tries to escape it.
THE END …
… just might be a new beginning.
This funny, timely novel in three voices marks the terrific YA debut of Monica Zepeda.

Release date: April 12, 2022

Publisher: Tu Books

Print pages: 304

Sample

Ethan

Oscar pushes the shopping cart like a maniac. He's swerving around guys in button-downs and moms in yoga pants. He makes choo-choo noises as he races down an aisle. He's going to get us kicked out, but it's hilarious.

Matt's in the aisle with packing tape, pretending like he doesn't know us. But then Oscar slides the cart next to him. "Whaddup, cuz?"

Matt's trying not to lose it. I see the anger in his face draining as he takes a couple of deep breaths. Matt is one very repressed guy. Either he's going to have an ulcer by the time he's twenty, or he's going to end up a tool like Uncle Dennis.

He puts a couple of rolls of packing tape in the cart on top of the folded boxes we'd picked up earlier. "Okay, we're ready to check out."

"Then what?" Oscar asks.

"Then we go back to the house." Matt says it slow, as though Oscar is unbelievably stupid.

"Come on, bro, we've got the car, we should do something."

I nod. "Something other than sit in the den and watch that fucking Disney movie."

"You said a bad word!" Oscar singsongs. I don't know what he's on right now, but he should take it more often. He's actually fun to be around.

Matt takes another deep breath. "The pizza will be delivered soon, and everyone will be waiting for us—"

"How are you getting the car to New Mexico, anyway?" asks Oscar.

"I'm driving it there."

"By yourself?" Oscar tilts his head like Ruby does when she's about to ask for a favor.

"Yes. I have a physics class at the community college that starts after New Year's. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Bro," Oscar says, "we should go with you."

 

Oscar

"We?" Matt blinks, but Ethan looks like he got lost in Costco looking for food samples and ended up in an aisle surrounded by tampons.

"We?" Matt repeats.

"Yeah. We." I am not at all fazed by their lack of enthusiasm.