Cemetery Boys

Yadriel is the protagonist of Cemetery Boys. He is a 16-year-old trans, Latinx boy who is eager to prove himself to his family and brujx community. Yadriel places great importance in his appearance because it helps him feel more like himself—as a trans teen, he does not want to be misgendered. He stands “at a little over five feet” and always wears black (18). Julian describes Yadriel’s style as “gay goth witch” (223). He takes special care of his hair, since it is “one of the few things about his appearance he could control”—he wears it “short on the sides with a swath of hair on top,” grows “his eyebrows in thick and dark,” and dons combat boots that “helped him feel less self-conscious about how short he was compared to the average sixteen-year-old boy” (30). He wears a “polyester-and-spandex binder” to masculinize his torso (9). Though they seem like small preferences, “It was small changes, like mirroring how Diego and his friends dressed or wore their hair, that made him feel more at home in his own skin” (30). These changes help Yadriel feel more like himself in his body.