Out of Darkness, Paperback

A dangerous forbidden romance rocks a Texan oil town in 1937, when segregation was a matter of life and death.

A Printz Honor Book

"This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear?" New London, TX. 1937. Naomi Vargas is Mexican American. Wash Fuller is Black. These teens know the town's divisive racism better than anyone. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive.

Naomi and Wash dare to defy the rules, and the New London school explosion serves as a ticking time bomb in the background. Can their love survive both prejudice and tragedy?

Race, romance, and family converge in this riveting novel that transplants Romeo and Juliet to a bitterly segregated Texas town. Includes a fascinating author's note detailing the process of research and writing about voices that have largely been excluded from historical accounts.

A Printz Honor Book
A Booklist 50 Best YA Books of All Time Selection
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book
Winner of the Tom s Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award

Ashley Hope P rez grew up in Texas and is the author of three award-winning novels for young adults. Out of Darkness received a Printz Honor and the Tom s Rivera Book Award. She is an assistant professor of world literatures at The Ohio State University and lives in Columbus with her husband and two sons.