It’s feel good and uplifting, a story about finding kindness and the goodness of people when and where it’s least expected. It was just what I needed. I’ve read so many tough stories these last months and watched way too much news reflecting the nastiness of our current political discourse. I needed a break. However, this is not what I would consider a light read. There are some serious and thought provoking themes, but the goodness of people that is reflected here gives one a little hope and co...

5 starsCatherine Ryan Hyde is an author I have been eyeing for years, and I have about a half dozen of her novels downloaded on my kindle. Finally, after seeing some superb reviews for Have You Seen Luis Velez? I decided to finally dive in and read one of her books. This is a shining little gem. It is simply written, but laden with wisdom and life-affirming inspiration. It’s a tale about Raymond, a 16-year-old boy with an unhappy home life (“I just don’t fit in”), and his 92-year-old neighbor Mi...

"Have You Seen Luis Velez?" will encourage you to look outside of yourself and see what is really around you, who is really around you. To try to put yourself into the shoes of those not like yourself, so you can understand how others might think and feel. This book is full of heart and feeling and left me knowing there is always something I can do to make this world a better place. Raymond is a 16 year old black young man who feels like he belongs nowhere. His lives with his white mom, white st...

Such a beautiful story! Grab this one my friends and make sure the tea is hot, the cats are purring and that you have a great stock of tissue paper( Kleenex) on hand. When Raymond, an African American teenager befriends the elderly blind woman in his apartment building to help her find a friend, Luis Velez, a tale of friendship, family, and forgiveness begins. I absolutely adored this book and I cannot wait to hear from other readers about their own reactions to it. But I am also feeling fierce...

Excuse me while I go collect all the pieces of my heart that exploded while reading Have You Seen Luis Velez…I don’t know why I waited so long to read this novel. Okay, I do know. It’s the cover. Something about staring down orthopedic shoes kept turning me off, despite rave review after rave review. But I’m here as the 101st person to tell you to just turn to page one and start this story about a Black teen who steps in to help a little old woman navigate the streets of New York while she in tu...

An uplifting and beautiful story about humanity, friendship and Kindness. The sort of book that inspires good deeds in readers and a novel that will stay with me long after I have finished it. Life gives us nothing outright, It only lends. Nothing is ours to keep. Quote by Catherine Ryan Hyde This is my first novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde and I loved the time spent with this book and the special memories it awoken in me. I had an aged friend as a young girl and she was an inspiration and a

This is a wonderful, heart warming book which I feel sure many different readers will enjoy!When 16 year Raymond meets Millie, a 92 year old blind woman who lives in his apartment block, she is outside her apartment looking for Luis Velez, a young man who has been coming weekly for the last four years to take her to the bank and the shops. It's been more than two weeks since he last visited and Millie is worried something bad has happened to him - and she's down to her last can of soup. Raymond

Have You Seen Luis Velez is a story of a boy who doesn't fit in and forms an unlikely friendship with his 92-year-old neighbour. Raymond is 17 years old and his only friend just moved away, leaving him with no friends. One morning on his way to school, he meets one of his neighbours on the second floor landing, looking for Luis . 92-year-old Millie is blind and Luis used to do her shopping for her until he mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago. Millie is now running out of food. Raymond with

A heartwarming tale that brings light into darkness... This is a story about possibilities and grace. About finding friendship and acceptance from the unlikeliest person, connections through unforeseen circumstances and, above all, community and love. It broke my heart, mended it, broke it again and then left me with a an open heart and a feeling of hope.I don’t do summaries, but in short, Raymond, a teenager, finds Millie, a blind, nonagenarian wandering the halls of his building asking if a

I knew within the first 10 pages that this book would get all the stars! “Hello?...Do you know Luis Velez? Have you seen him?”That’s what teenager Raymond hears one day on the 2nd floor of his apartment complex as he’s leaving for school. The voice belongs to Mildred, his 92-year old elderly neighbor, who is blind. Raymond doesn’t know her, and he doesn’t know who Luis Velez is, but quickly learns that Luis comes and helps Mildred go to the bank and get groceries three times a week. With Luis se...

This was an EASY 5 stars for me! I am always in search of characters who will stay with me, long after the final pages of the book has been turned, but few hold that honor.Eleanor Oliphant (is completely fine)Ove (A Man Called Ove) Annika from “The Girl He Used to Know”Harold Fry (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry)Queenie Hennessy (The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (Harold Fry #2)And, now, joining that elite list-Raymond and Mrs. G from this gem of a book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️She was wringing her...

Catherine Ryan Hyde tackles racial prejudice and fear of anything that is considered ‘other’ in “Have You Seen Luis Velez?” Raymond’s father is black but his mother, stepdad and siblings are white. Raymond sees his father every other weekend but lives with his mother and stepdad, so he’s the only black person in the home. He feels different; he feels ‘other,’ and he doesn’t feel like anyone in his family is listening to him. When a ninety-two-year-old blind woman that lives in his apartment buil...

I simply can’t agree more with every 5 star review before me. Totally absorbing story....Emotional.....Thought endearing....Vivid, beautifully controlled and written with effortless skill and empathy and inspiration!!!Meeting Raymond, a high school junior in this page turning novel was a gift! Quick read -VERY ENGAGING! Going in blind works!!!Thank you Tracy for recommending it to me!!!!!Highly recommended for those who want an immediate grabbing fiction story that’s both fierce and tender. A po...

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Catherine Ryan Hyde for my advanced copy of Have You Seen Luis Velez.What a brilliant book and I loved it.Raymond Jaffe is a mixed race sixteen year old young man he lives with his mum, step father and three younger sisters. His father has married again, he stays with them every second weekend and his fathers new wife can't be bothered with him. He feels unwanted, unloved and a burden to everyone. Raymond struggles to fit in at school, he has one fr...

I rarely read young adult novels and into the first few chapters thought I had made a mistake on this one. As I proceeded I was in awe of how deftly the author had inner woven very interesting characters with "Lessons" . There are Lessons on courage, predjudice, compassion, humility, integrity, loyalty, empathy, openmindedness, and more. The message delivered deserves 10 stars as it is powerful and by example; But, I am now very anxious to move on to murders, bloodlettting and things that go bum...

From the 1st time I saw this book, the title drew me in right away. Then I read the synopsis and knew I would want to read this one. I've always really enjoyed stories about the relationships between the very young and very old. Raymond is a 17 year old kid, who feels like he doesn't belong in any aspect of his life. Mildred Gutermann is a blind 92 year old woman who lives in Raymond's building. One day they stumble upon one another and she asks him, "Have you seen Luis Velez"? From there an ama...

Catherine Hyde Ryan is an exceptional authoress. Her books transcend you into another world, all consuming. This book, is a reminder that people do care. We lead busy, self-absorbed lives, but these is so much beauty and power in friendship; opening yourself to another when it feels counter intuitive. I think many of us are starved from the collective wisdom that comes from joining others who care more about people than things. And sometimes, the elderly, which society in general seems to forget...

What better way to kick off the new year than by reading this gem of a book, Have You Seen Luis Velez? Kindness, compassion, generosity, acceptance…this is what we all need and deserve, and this is what author Catherine Ryan Hyde serves up in this highly recommended novel.Raymond is in high school, a good student with divorced parents of different races. He struggles with his own identity, making friends, fitting in with his family and feeling comfortable in his skin. When his best friend moves

Raymond Jaffe was sad his best friend was leaving. Other than Andre, he had no other friends at school. So when an elderly woman in his apartment block stopped him with a question – “Have you seen Luis Velez?” Raymond spoke to her. Mildred Gutermann – call me Millie – had been alone in her apartment for the past seventeen days as Luis, who helped her with everyday chores, had disappeared. She was down to her last half can of soup which she’d been rationing. Raymond immediately determined he woul...

Omg. This book is a reality. How in our racist society is this still going on. It clearly in her testimony that I she shot him because he is Hispanic.. and by her ignorance she is stating white privilege. She should have been found guilty without a doubt. Why was there no hispanics on the jury. This book made me so mad. And sadly this is today's society.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. “Have You Seen Luis Velez?” is the question that starts it all. Raymond Jaffe is a teenager, who doesn’t fit in with his family and is trying to deal with his best friend moving away, when an elderly blind woman asks him about Luis Velez. Soon, Raymond is not only helping the elderly woman with her weekly errands, but he also takes on the mystery himself and is soon searching thro

An endearing and delightful story of friendship, aging, loss and kindnessSUMMARYRaymond Jaffa is sixteen, a high school student and feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere. Not in school, not with his mom’s new family and not with his dad’s family either. His best friend moved away and now he spends his time with a 92-year-old woman who lives in his building, and is looking for Luis Velez. Millie, a German Jew, has been alone since her caretaker, Luis, disappeared three weeks ago. She’s blind and

5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ What do you get when the main characters are a 92 year old woman and a 17 year old boy? A fabulous book about 2 people - Mildred and Raymond. Just a wonderful “feel good” book. I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, loved the whole thing! Of course, I love everything that Catherine Ryan Hyde writes!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this book for my honest review. This book is due to be published in May 2019.

If you’re searching for a book to give you all the feels and one that will also restore your faith in humanity my friends then look no further. I’ve become a super fan of CRH over the past few years and this is my favorite of hers to date. Well, of the ones I’ve actually read because have you seen her backlist?! Impressive. But seriously, this is a special book and one that I won’t soon forget.The driving force behind what makes a CRH fantastic is the incredible characterization, no doubt about

This is book is sweet and uplifting, but it's themes were not very subtle. At one point I searched for a description of the book because I thought I had mistakenly picked up a YA novel. I hate to be cynical but taking the preaching down a notch could have really helped this book.

Have You Seen Luis Velez? With that short sentence, a question uttered by a stranger in his apartment building, seventeen-year-old Raymond Jaffe’s is changed forever.Up to this point, Raymond feels like he has only one friend, and that friend has just moved away. He feels like a misfit in his own family. His mother has remarried, he does not get along with his stepfather, and he has little in common with his younger stepsisters. His dad’s new wife wants little to do with him either. Suddenly

4.5 heart-warming starsThis book centers around belonging, friendship, and ultimately hope.The main character is Raymond, a teen who is struggling to find his way. His best (and only) friend has just moved away, his parents are divorced and remarried, and he doesn’t feel like he fits with either family.He’s headed off to school one day when he hears his elderly neighbor asking “Have You Seen Luis Valez?” Luis used to come by a few days a week to take her to the store and help her with other chor...

Words to describe Have You Seen Luis Velez? Uplifting, thought-provoking, encouraging, and big-hearted. If you need any of those ideas in your life (and who doesn't), then I highly recommend this book. It is a simple reminder that if you want to see good in the world, YOU need to be the one to do good. If you would like to discuss this book, check out my list of questions at www.booksandrecipes.com.

This is an extraordinary book about a very special relationship. Raymond Jaffe is a 16 year old black boy who lives with his white mother and her husband and their children. Raymond doesn’t feel like he fits in with this family, or with his father and his young wife who seems to resent that Raymond exists. He has no friends at school, so he feels like he doesn’t fit in there either. One day an elderly, blind neighbor, Millie Gutermann, is standing outside her apartment asking everyone who walks

I started reading “Have You Seen Luis Velez?” by Catherine Ryan Hyde thinking it would be a light fun read...NOTThis book is incredible in all aspects of life’s lessons, an amazing read. I learned so much regarding life because of an 18 year old boy and a 92 year old woman. This book makes you laugh, makes you cry, opens your eyes to what is really happening in our world around us and most of all has made me want to be a better person! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟