Snowed In

Abstract

Snowed In is an 80,000-word coming-of-age novel about a distressed Venezuelan teenager with a passion for basketball. Juan José (later JJ) leaves his home country after experiencing a traumatic, violent event and becomes an exchange student in upstate New York. During his year abroad, he finds safety, some confidence and romantic love. At the end of the program, JJ has to return to Venezuela but he promises his girlfriend and himself that he will come back. After more than twenty years trying to fulfill his promise, JJ lands in New York City as an unemployed, balding, immigrant full of self-doubt. He soon learns that in order to survive in the city and find his lost love, he must find a job, a place to live and his self worth in a very different America than he knew as a teenager.