Marcia Argueta Mickelson
Author of Young Adult Fiction
More from Marcia
01.
The Huaca
Ellie Cummings just wants to feel normal. But since her mom’s murder, everyone has been treating her differently. She turns to Gabe, the high school weirdo, who claims he can communicate with her dead mother. In this haunting mystery, your heartstrings will be tugged as Ellie takes a chance and discovers that the truth may be better kept a secret.
02.
Where I Belong
In the spring of 2018, Guatemalan American high school senior Milagros “Millie” Vargas knows her life is about to change. Faced with journalists, trolls, and anonymous threats Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home.
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Books
Ellie Cummings just wants to feel normal. But since her mom’s murder, everyone has been treating her differently. She turns to Gabe, the high school weirdo, who claims he can communicate with her dead mother. In this haunting mystery, your heartstrings will be tugged as Ellie takes a chance and discovers that the truth may be better kept a secret.
An immigrant teen fights for her family, her future, and the place she calls home. In the spring of 2018, Guatemalan American high school senior Milagros “Millie” Vargas knows her life is about to change. Faced with journalists, trolls, and anonymous threats Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home.
Reviews
“Cast into the political firestorm of an aspiring U.S. senator’s campaign, a Guatemalan immigrant teen grapples with her newfound notoriety.
It’s the end of Milagros Vargas’ senior year of high school in Corpus Christi, Texas. So far, aspiring marine biologist Millie’s accepted a spot at Stanford, although her mom doesn’t yet know this. As Millie became the second caretaker of her family after her father’s death, her mom expanded her housekeeping job for the Wheelers, an affluent White family. For Millie, Mr. Wheeler’s campaign for the U.S. Senate means her mom will be away from her family more, caring for the Wheelers’ young daughter. Then, the senatorial candidate highlights Millie and her family as examples of exemplary immigrants during a campaign speech, resulting in public support as well as hostility from internet trolls and anonymous haters. When someone sets the Vargas home on fire, they have no choice but to accept the offer to temporarily move in with the Wheelers, even as Millie finds herself inexplicably drawn toward their son, Charlie. Setting her story against the backdrop of a nameless, anti-immigrant White House administration, Mickelson does a remarkable job of plunging into complex issues with tremendous nuance. Millie’s acquired U.S. citizenship, after arriving as an undocumented asylum seeker, further complicates the discourse, raising stark questions around common debates about which immigrants “deserve” to be welcomed. Full of thought-provoking conversations, messy answers, and lots of heart, this novel’s a quiet knockout.
Utterly compelling.”
Kirkus Review
author of Summer of the Mariposas
ELANA JOHNSON AUTHOR OF possession
