“Taking cues from Judge Dredd, Mad Max, and The Hunger Games, Rivera (The Education of Margot Sanchez, 2017) has created a uniquely brutal hellscape… readers are left with a more ambiguous—and ambitious—tale that will have them questioning what kinds of people they’d be if freed from society’s mores.” - Starred review, Booklist
AT NIGHT, LAS MAL CRIADAS OWN THESE STREETS.
Nalah leads the fiercest all-girl crew in Mega City. That roles brings with it violent throw downs and access to the hottest boydega clubs, but the sixteen-year-old grows weary of the life. Her dream is to get off the streets and make a home in the exclusive Mega Towers, in which only a chosen few get to live. To make it to the Mega towers, Nalah must prove her loyalty to the city's benevolent founder and cross the border in a search for a mysterious gang the Ashé Ryders. Led by a reluctant guide, Nalah battles other crews and her own doubts, but the closer she gets to her goal, the more she loses sight of everything—and everyone— she cares about.
Nalah must do the unspeakable to get what she wants—a place to call home. But is a home just where you live? Or who you choose to protect?
Read an exclusive excerpt on Teen Vogue.
Nominated for a 2020 International Latino Book Award
“Dealing In Dreams named one of the “Best Post-Apocalyptic Books of 2019” ― Book Riot
“Rivera's novel exposes a world filled with exquisite, unflinching brutality, but also offers a real tenderness toward its young characters, many of whom are doing the best they can as they rapidly lose faith in the people and institutions they thought were supposed to protect them.” ― Nylon
“That sense of scarcity in the face of resources became an inspiration behind her new novel Dealing in Dreams, in which the projects of Rivera's childhood become the "Mega Towers," and the borough is a dystopian "Mega City," rebuilt by women in the aftermath of a man-made catastrophe and now patrolled by all-Latina gangs.” ― Interview with cultural critic Rebecca Carroll on WNYC
“West Bronx native Lilliam Rivera’s latest novel, ‘Dealing in Dreams,’ is a fast-paced dystopian novel depicting sisterhood and the cruel choices people are forced to make for survival.” ― Bronx Times
Featured as “55 New Books To Read this Memorial Day” ― Bustle
“Rivera weaves a story of self-discovery, blood relations and chosen families, substance addiction, and race into her sci-fi tale, including details from Afro and Indigenous Caribbean culture and history, showing resistance and survival — and blasting it to the future.” ― Horn Book Magazine
“Lilliam Rivera likes writing the stories of young, strong Latinas in her novels.” ― Los Angeles Times
Live Interview at AWP for PBS Books
“Dealing In Dreams explores violence, privilege and the complicated nature of power, and what it means when the future of a community rests in the hands of history’s most fearless radicals: young people.” ― Electric Literature
“Dealing in Dreams is a ferocious young adult novel about the violence done to us and the violence we do to others.” ― Tor.com
“At the book launch, Rivera discusses magical realism (“Ghost stories? That’s just family showing up!”), state violence, the power of chosen family, and always having to defend and explain the Bronx.” ― Teen Vogue
“The store was filled to the brim for its first author event which featured an energetic Q&A session with Lilliam Rivera and ‘All American Boys’ author Jason Reynolds” ― Bronx Times
“Placing my fiction in a futuristic or horror setting is my way of making sense of real horrors” ― PEN America
Teen Vogue live streamed the Dealing In Dreams Bronx launch party with author Jason Reynolds at The Lit. Bar
“Everyone loves this idea that to make it in America all you need is to work hard to be successful.” ― Lightspeed Magazine
“Lilliam Rivera is a rising star in the world of YA fiction.” ― Remezcla
“Nuyorican journalist-turned-YA author Lilliam Rivera offers up a Latinx MC-heavy playlist with songs that inspired her new book, Dealing in Dreams.” ― Tidal
“There is this idea of losing your innocence and just encasing your whole body with violence and hardness as a way of life… I’m not, in any way, Nalah but I can relate to trying to protect yourself, and being both hard and soft.” ― The Rumpus
“A novel about girl gangs in a crumbling future? Yes!” ― Paste
“These are Seventeen’s picks for the best books of 2019 (so far)...” ― Seventeen
33 New Books Coming Out In March 2019 To Add To Your Spring Reading List” ― Bustle
“Read a book with a protagonist who will do anything to get what she wants, like Dealing in Dreams (March 5, Simon & Schuster) by Lilliam Rivera,” ― Book Riot
“I wanted to write a book that I would have loved to have read when I was young. It’s the truth—I wanted that action-packed book that’s about girls being violent." ― In conversation with author Nikki Darling for Lit Hub
“I grew up reading so many science fiction and fantasy novels (Ray Bradbury, George Orwell…) and didn’t see any of my people in them. Where were the Puerto Rican girls from the Bronx crushing monsters?” ― MiTu
“13 Latina Fantasy Books For the Sci-Fi Lover in Your Life” ― MiTu
“8 Books by Latinx Authors That Should be On your Reading List This Year” ― Remezcla
“Romance, Revenge, and Revolutions in This Winter’s Upcoming Young Adult SFF” ― Tor.com
“Rivera certainly proved she had a capital-v Voice with her debut, The Education of Margot Sanchez, and she’s about to hammer it home with her sophomore, about a girl named Nalah who leads a fierce all-girl crew.” ― BNTeenblog
“What to Read When 2019 is Just Around the Corner” ― The Rumpus editors
“48 Books by Woman and Nonbinary Authors of Color to Read in 2019” ― selected by author R.O. Kwon for Electric Literature
“ESPECTACULAR. I read this riveting revolutionary tale in a day because I could not pull away from the adventures of the legendary luchadoras Latinas, Las Mal Criadas. Chief Rocka is a powerhouse, the worldbuilding is sensational, and the themes are resoundingly relevant. The LMC has carved a permanent home in my heart." — Romina Russell, author of the New York Times Best-Selling Zodiac Quartet
"As brutal as it is beautiful, Dealing in Dreams pulls no punches, launching us on a wild, relentless ride through the cutthroat streets of this brilliantly-realized dystopian world, where hard choices can tear even the closest allies apart and danger lurks around every corner. This book will have you up late, turning pages frantically to find out what happens next. It is a marvelous achievement." — Daniel José Older, author of the New York Times Best-Selling series, Shadowshaper Cypher
"In Dealing in Dreams, Rivera sharply etches a world rooted in Latin culture where violence is the most common language, and belief in equality is a soul-stirring, revolutionary act." — Ryan Gattis, author of Kung Fu High School
"Lilliam Rivera has really stepped her game up. All the voice and verve that made The Education of Margot Sanchez such an unforgettable debut are on full display here, but now she's added an incredible science fiction future that can stand proudly beside Scott Westerfeld at his best." — Sam J. Miller, award-winning author of The Art of Starving
"Dealing in Dreams is yet another smart, rich, fulfilling read from Lilliam Rivera, who has, through her last two books, solidified herself as one of today's boldest YA writers. It's one of those books where, as you find yourself sprinting toward the final pages, you're at once enthralled (because it's so gripping) and terrified (because you know soon you're going to be sucked up out of the world that Lilliam has built and dropped down back into the actual real world)." — Shea Serrano, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Basketball (And Other Things) and The Rap Year Book
“Lilliam Rivera is quickly carving out her own territory in the world of fiction that thrills the heart and enriches the soul. Dealing In Dreams is a book only she could write, daring and dramatic, and fiercely beautiful at its core.” — Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling