What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

A powerful novel that's "hilarious, heartbreaking, and ass-kicking" (Jamie Ford), of a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island who discovers their longmissing sister is potentially alive and cast on a reality TV show, and they set out to bring her home. The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteenyearold middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time? The years since Ruthy's disappearance haven't been easy on the Ramirez family. Its 2008, and their mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, Jessica juggles a newborn baby with her hospital job, and Nina, after four successful years at college, has returned home to medical school rejections and is forced to work in the mall folding tiny bedazzled thongs at the lingerie store. After seeing maybeRuthy on their screen, Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to where the show is filmed in search of their longlost sister. When Dolores catches wind of their scheme, she insists on joining, along with her pot-stirring holy roller best friend, Irene. What follows is a family road trip and reckoning that will force the Ramirez women to finally face the past and look toward a futurewith or without Ruthy in it. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a vivid family portrait, in all its shattered reality, exploring the familial bonds between women and cycles of generational violence, colonialism, race, and silence, replete with snark, resentment, tenderness, and, of course, love. A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Elle USA Today Today.com Ms. Magazine Good Housekeeping Bustle The Week Goodreads Bookriot Pop Culturely SheReads Litreactor Electric Lit The Mary Sue People Espaol Zibby Mag Debutiful Her Campus Best Books of March by Shondaland Ms. Magazine Popsugar Bookriot Debutiful Powells Book Blog TIME 100 must-read book of 2023 Booklist Top 10 debut of 2023 Library Journal Best Pop Fiction of 2023 The Latinidad List Best Debut Novel of 2023 Chicago Public Library Favorite Book of 2023 Good Housekeeping Must-Read Book of 2023 Today.com Standout Book of 2023 A March Indie Next Pick! Belletrist, Phenomenal, and Readers Digest book club pick! Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize!