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“Beautiful, complex, and subversive, The Last Karankawas is an important book about Texas from a powerful new voice in American fiction. I loved it. These characters and their stories will stay with me.”
— Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times–bestselling author of Valentine

“Garza debuts with an accomplished account of the ties between members of a Filipino and Mexican community… This is a worthy love letter to Galveston.”
— Publishers Weekly

“Devastating in its own clarity and nuance. The Last Karankawas has the power to change the way we see where we’ve been and what we may have left behind. A stunning debut from a talented writer.”
— Oscar Cásares, author of Where We Come From

Welcome to Galveston, Texas, a popular tourist destination and major shipping port with a population of 50,241. While millions visit each year, few venture beyond the boulevards to Fish Village, home to generations of island residents. Carly Castillo has only known Fish Village, her grandmother claiming their family descended from the Karankawas, an indigenous Texas people. As she grows older, she dreams of a life undefined by her family’s history. Her boyfriend, Jess, a former all-star shortstop turned seaman, cherishes the salty, familiar air of Galveston and has turned down opportunities to leave. When news of Hurricane Ike spreads, residents face a tough choice: stay and protect their homes or flee inland. The Last Karankawas weaves together the lives of these characters, creating a powerful portrait of survival, familial ties, and the histories we create, reminding us that true bonds are forged, not by blood, but by fire.

Kimberly Garza (she/her) is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her work has appeared in Copper Nickel, Puerto del Sol, Creative Nonfiction, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. She holds degrees in English, Spanish, and creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Texas, where she earned a PhD in 2019. A native Texan—born in Galveston, raised in Uvalde—she is the daughter of a Filipina immigrant mother and a Mexican-American father from the Rio Grande Valley. She lives in San Antonio, where she is an associate professor of creative writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The Last Karankawas is her first novel.