‘Panza de Burro’ by Andrea Abreu

‘Panza de Burro’ (English: ‘Dogs of Summer,’ translated by Julia Sanches, German: ‘So forsch, so furchtlos,’ translated by Christiane Quandt) by Andrea Abreu is set in Tenerife and is a sensational debut novel.

The adolescent first-person narrator and her best friend Isora spend every day of their summer break together. They discover life, their bodies, and the difficulties of growing up.

This novel shows a different side of Tenerife—not the beaches, the food, the drinks. This is the home of people who struggle like everyone else. And the narrator’s explicit, authentic language shows shows that growing up is as much about confusion, desire, and pain as it is about friendship and intimacy. ‘Panza de Burro’ is raw and poetic, grounded in dialect and local culture, and explores queerness, class, and longing with remarkable emotional intensity.

CW: eating disorder, abuse, racist/homophobic/ableist language by some characters