Spit and Passion

At its core, Spit and Passion is about the transformative moment when music crashes into a stifling adolescent bedroom and saves you. Suddenly, you belong.

At twelve years old, Cristy C. Road is trying to balance the values of a Cuban Catholic family with her newfound queer identity, and begins a chronic obsession with the punk band Green Day. In this stunning graphic memoir, Road renders the clash between her rich inner world of fantasy and the numbing suburban conformity she is surrounded by. She finds solace in the closet—where she lets her deep excitement about punk rock foment and, in that angst and euphoria, finds a path to self-acceptance.

“Spit and Passion is a queer, punk Cuban American’s coming-of-age memoir that’s as brilliant as it is brave. Not to be missed.” —Junot Díaz, author of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“Road, an artist and writer, borrowed her nom de plum from a Green Day song title, which gives you some idea of the punky, exuberant spirit behind her graphic memoir about growing up gay in a very Catholic Cuban family from Miami.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Veteran punk writer and illustrator Road weaves text and art together in a charming and angst-ridden coming-of-age story. . . . Readers who enjoyed Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home will probably empathize with Road’s story of sexual exploration and punk rock.” —Publishers Weekly

“Road’s writing has long brought to vivid life the experiences of a queer-identified Latina punk rocker.” —Bitch magazine

“True to Road’s punk nature, she fills the page with raw words and drawings that illustrate the wide range of her emotions—from rage to despair.” —Daily News (New York)

“I’m a big Cristy C. Roads fan. Spit and Passion is a graphic delight, and the depiction of awkward youth is spot-on, weird, and familiar. —Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

“Cristy C. Road is a bad ass. She has a list of published work that leaves me awed and inspired.” —Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day

“Cristy C. Road is the Jack Kerouac of the young queer generation. She’s as brilliant a writer as she is an illustrator.” —Kate Bornstein, author of A Queer and Pleasant Danger