{"id":60768,"date":"2026-04-15T19:12:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60768"},"modified":"2026-04-15T19:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:12:59","slug":"the-rivera-girls-paperback-on-sale-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60768","title":{"rendered":"The Rivera Girls Paperback on Sale Next Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><strong>BY RAUL HERNANDEZ<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60773 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-18-2025-02_06_10-PM-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-18-2025-02_06_10-PM-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-18-2025-02_06_10-PM-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-18-2025-02_06_10-PM-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-18-2025-02_06_10-PM-850x850.png 850w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-18-2025-02_06_10-PM.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I started writing my novel <em>The Rivera Girls<\/em> in 2018, a few months after Pixar\u2019s <em>Coco<\/em> hit theaters in November 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><em>Coco<\/em> went on to win Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for \u201cRemember Me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> I loved it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But loving something doesn\u2019t mean you stop asking for more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">About a week after <em>Coco<\/em> was released, I wrote in an online comment section that Hollywood should make more films about Hispanic professionals and middle-class families\u2014not just stories rooted in struggle, but stories rooted in everyday life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That\u2019s when the pushback came.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Someone pointed out that there <em>are<\/em> movies about Hispanics. And sure\u2014there are. But let\u2019s be honest about what dominates the screen: immigration, gangs, and the same recycled roles\u2014gardeners, maids, laborers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That\u2019s not the full story. Not even close.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It\u2019s not all the people I know\u2014or the millions of people many of us know.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Where are the Latino real estate developers closing million-dollar deals? The police officers walking a beat and going home to help their kids with homework? The financial consultants, small business owners, the burned-out newspaper reporters trying to hit deadline while their marriages fall apart?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Where are the middle-class Latino families arguing over college tuition, navigating divorces, surviving affairs, and reconnecting with long-lost loves?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In other words, where are the stories that actually look like life?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Even films made by Latino creators in Los Angeles often miss that mark. They skim the surface but rarely dive into the texture of middle-class Latino experience\u2014the ambition, the tension, the humor, the contradictions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The truth is, representation isn\u2019t just about being seen. It\u2019s about being seen accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During that online debate, I pushed back hard. Then someone said something that stuck with me:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><em>If you want those stories\u2014write them yourself.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Why should I?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The answer came back blunt and simple:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><em>You\u2019re the one complaining. You can write. So write.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A few months later, I did.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">I started with a screenplay, then shifted to a novel to give the characters more room to breathe. <em>The Rivera Girls<\/em> became a challenge in 2021\u2014and then an obsession.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Writing it meant getting inside the lives of four young Latina women. No shortcuts. No stereotypes. It stretched me. It forced me to listen, to observe, to get it right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And yes\u2014it was a lot of fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Thousands of rewrites later, I finished the book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Even the cover I created was intentional\u2014right down to the Dodger cap. A small detail, but the kind that signals identity without explanation. A quiet punctuation mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here\u2019s the bigger point:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Hollywood and publishing may eventually catch up\u2014or they may not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But waiting for someone else to tell your story is a losing game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sometimes, the only way to fix the narrative is to write your way into it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That\u2019s exactly what I did.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Hopefully, more Latino writers\u2014Americans of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, and other backgrounds\u2014will tell stories about our middle- and upper-class lives and capture the full picture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The whole story.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Our beautiful tapestry of everyday life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><em>The Rivera Girls<\/em> debuts Friday, April 24.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The audiobook will be out this summer and available wherever audiobooks are sold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u00a0 *********<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"791b8cd6-e645-4440-b251-95e4a2655c07\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-3-instant\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word light markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"39\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"39\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><strong data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"20\">The Rivera Girls<\/strong><\/span><br data-start=\"20\" data-end=\"23\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><em data-start=\"23\" data-end=\"39\">A comedy novel<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"39\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u201cLose the attitude. Now.\u201d \u2014The Rivera Girls<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_60772\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-60772\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-60772 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vi1tsd3g2fs-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"pink flowers in vase\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vi1tsd3g2fs-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vi1tsd3g2fs-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vi1tsd3g2fs-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vi1tsd3g2fs-300x450.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vi1tsd3g2fs.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-60772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cWednesday is now tulip day,\u201d Teresa said. \u201cA mark of the mid-week.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"41\" data-end=\"134\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Ricardo Rivera had one dream: a son, a ballgame, and a quiet Sunday in his sacred \u201cman cave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"136\" data-end=\"218\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">What he got instead?<\/span><br data-start=\"156\" data-end=\"159\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Four daughters. Four personalities. Four daily plot twists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"220\" data-end=\"341\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Welcome to the 1980s\u2014big hair, louder music, and a household where the rules are strict\u2026 until they collide with reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"343\" data-end=\"543\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">There\u2019s <strong data-start=\"351\" data-end=\"363\">Gabriela<\/strong>, the responsible one (on a good day).<\/span><br data-start=\"401\" data-end=\"404\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"404\" data-end=\"415\">Vanessa<\/strong>, who argues like she\u2019s billing by the hour.<\/span><br data-start=\"459\" data-end=\"462\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"462\" data-end=\"470\">Alex<\/strong>, quietly plotting her next move.<\/span><br data-start=\"503\" data-end=\"506\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">And then there\u2019s <strong data-start=\"523\" data-end=\"532\">Nikki<\/strong>\u2014the spark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"545\" data-end=\"685\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">When Nikki walks in with a nose piercing and a \u201ctemporary\u201d tattoo that looks permanent enough to need a mortgage, Ricardo lays down the law:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"687\" data-end=\"747\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">No body modifications.<\/span><br data-start=\"709\" data-end=\"712\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">No exceptions.<\/span><br data-start=\"726\" data-end=\"729\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">End of discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"749\" data-end=\"798\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">(Which, naturally, is where the arguments begin.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"800\" data-end=\"834\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">But the real world keeps knocking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"836\" data-end=\"1141\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Every week, Ricardo escapes to <strong data-start=\"867\" data-end=\"883\">Tierra Y Mar<\/strong>, where the coffee is hot, the gossip is hotter, and the advice is\u2026 questionable. His crew\u2014a fast-talking real estate agent, a hard-nosed newspaper reporter, and a detective who trusts nobody\u2014gather to break down life, love, and the eternal mystery of women.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1143\" data-end=\"1236\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Only now, their own lives are coming apart\u2014and back together\u2014in ways none of them saw coming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1238\" data-end=\"1506\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">One is staring down a divorce.<\/span><br data-start=\"1268\" data-end=\"1271\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Another is tangled in an affair he can\u2019t explain.<\/span><br data-start=\"1320\" data-end=\"1323\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">A third is blindsided by the return of a lost love.<\/span><br data-start=\"1374\" data-end=\"1377\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">And all of them are learning, the hard way, that life doesn\u2019t close doors quietly\u2014it slams them, then dares you to open new ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1508\" data-end=\"1693\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Between kitchen blowups and coffee-fueled confessions, <strong data-start=\"1563\" data-end=\"1583\">The Rivera Girls<\/strong> is a sharp, funny, and heartfelt look at family, friendship, and the messy business of growing up\u2014at any age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1695\" data-end=\"1778\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Because raising four daughters isn\u2019t just a challenge\u2014<\/span><br data-start=\"1749\" data-end=\"1752\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">it\u2019s a full-contact sport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1780\" data-end=\"1824\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">And surviving it?<\/span><br data-start=\"1797\" data-end=\"1800\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">That\u2019s the real victory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1780\" data-end=\"1824\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY RAUL HERNANDEZ I started writing my novel The Rivera Girls in 2018, a few months after Pixar\u2019s Coco hit theaters in November 2017. Coco went on to win Academy Awards for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Rivera Girls Paperback on Sale Next Week<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BY RAUL HERNANDEZ I started writing my novel The Rivera Girls in 2018, a few months after Pixar\u2019s Coco hit theaters in November 2017. 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