David Bowles grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is the author of several award-winning titles, including “They Call Me Güero,” “The Smoking Mirror,” the 13th Street series, and “Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico.” His picture book debut, “My Two Border Towns,” is available in English and Spanish. In 2020, David co-founded #DignidadLiteraria, a grassroots activist hashtag and movement dedicated to promoting equity for Latinx people in publishing. His new book “They Call Her Fregona: A Border Kid’s Poems” will be released on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Honoring multiple poetic traditions, “They Call Her Fregona” is a bittersweet first-love story in verse and the highly anticipated follow-up to “They Call Me Güero.” (Amazon, 2022)

“They Call Her Fregona” – “You can be my boyfriend.” It only takes five words to change Güero’s life at the end of seventh grade. The summer becomes extra busy as he learns to balance new band practice with his old crew, Los Bobbys, and being Joanna Padilla’s boyfriend. They call her “fregona” because she is tough, always sticking up for her family and keeping the school bully in check. But Güero sees her softness. Together they cook dollar-store spaghetti and hold hands in the orange grove, learning more about themselves and each other than they could have imagined. But when they start eighth grade, Joanna faces a tragedy that requires Güero to reconsider what it means to show up for someone you love.

Excerpt available.