You dedicate your book to misfits, botched-jobbers, and unapologetic originals, what I see as a love letter to queer Latinx youth within a very cool 1980s sociocultural context. I mean, Max and their friends dance to “Radio Ga Ga” by Queen. Hella rad. What is it about the 80s? Was this story always going to be set in this period, or did you consider a current timeframe?
Gosh, there’s so much to this question, Cristina. First, I was one of those misfits, botched-jobbers—rejects. I was gangly, geeky awkward, last pick for PE’s team games like dodgeball, and, when I wasn’t goofing around with my fellow BFF misfits, I was reading comics or at the library with my nose tucked deeply into the pages of a good novel. Speaking of library, I should mention that being geeky awkward didn’t mean that I didn’t get into trouble. I did, and mostly on purpose. Oddly, my teachers thought sending me to the library was punishment. For me, it was reward.
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