This book was so refreshing about a relationship with an elderly woman and a teenager!! Just loved how the relationship grew! Highly recommend

When seventeen-year-old Raymond Jaffe’s best friend moves away, he loses the only friend he has. They plan to Skype but it will never be the same as walking to school together and chatting whenever they want to. Raymond is a loner, an outcast in school, misunderstood by his jealous step-mother and by his mother’s new husband and their new family. He’s ‘different’ and there’s no hiding for poor Raymond. All he has left in his life is a feral cat he’s tamed and now feeds in a derelict building a little way away.
Then there’s his ‘new’ friend, ninety-two-year-old Mildred Gutermann, a blind widow who lives in the same block as him, although not on the same floor. He meets Mildred the day his best friend left town, when she was desperately searching for her usual carer who hasn’t visited her in weeks. She is so worried about this Luis Velez, her erstwhile carer, and is fast running out of food, driven by desperation to wandering about asking her wary neighbours 'Have You Seen Luis Velez?' But what may come of that friendship, Raymond reasoned, feeling very despondent. He has to intervene, just as his heart and mind is telling him to.
That reasonable question forms the centre of this novel, for Raymond makes it his mission to find out where Luis is and why he has stopped travelling across the city to escort Mildred to the bank and then making sure she had provisions regularly; all this, out of the goodness of his heart. He’d embraced this responsibility for well over four years, even teaching the old lady his native tongue, Spanish. Raymond steps up with compassion for her predicament, looking after her, helping her and trying to boost her up; all in his spare time. She is very worried about Luis and feeling increasingly isolated. Meanwhile he forms a very close bond with the fascinating, intelligent and very wise old lady. They simply ‘get’ each other and Raymond at last feels happy, settled and valued.
This is a very beautiful and profound story about companionship, loyalty, friendship and caring. Catherine Ryan Hyde has envisaged a real cracker of a story and delivered it with her usual superb style of understanding, vivid descriptions and compassionate heart. It’s a very clever story, examining tribalism, bigotry, prejudice and the difference between various classes of society. Catherine does this so well, backing up her story with meticulous research used intelligently in the courtroom scenes. I always enjoy her characterisation. She reaches deep into her heart and soul, describing emotions, giving her characters a conscience and always being very aware of different points of view. I loved both of the main character most of all. They were truly inspiring. This very simple (but hugely enjoyable) story is greatly enriched and enhanced by her insight and understanding of worldly matters and people. I would have loved an ‘Epilogue’ from Catherine at the very end of the story, one that rounded off the ‘Luis Velez’ story more fully. But I know how I would end it and that’s enough for soft-hearted me really.
Thank you for my complimentary copy of this novel received through my membership of NetGalley and from Lake Union Publishing, sent to me in return for an honest unbiased review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and my review reflects this. It’s a 4.5* from me and a very happy recommendation that this is an excellent novel for you to read. Catherine always delivers and this is amongst one of my favourites. Thank goodness she is a prolific author and there’s never very long to wait for another little gem from her ‘pen’. Thank you Catherine.

Another compelling book by CRH. As usual, the protagonist is a young person who is mentored by an older wiser person. In this case, Raymond is a 17 year old who feels an outcast with his family and the world in general. He befriends a 92 year old blind woman and goes in a quest to find Luis Velez who has helped her. The book is a great study in racism, tribalism and injustice. Raymond who is half black half Caucasian feels like an outcast. He learns many lessons from Mrs G who is a Jewish German immigrant who fled the Holocaust as a child with her family.
Another theme in the book is how we typecast people based on racial and socioeconomic factors. CRH shines light in the inherent bias in our society without getting preachy.
I have yet to find a CRH book that I didn’t like. Sometimes the dialogue gets muddled with all of the characters sounding the same. That is a small complaint for very thought provoking book.

I normally love Catherine's books, but not really this one. While it definitely is a heartwarming story of friendship and family, it got boring really quickly.
Raymond is a 16 year old boy who meets and befriends an elderly woman named Millie. Millie sees him in the hallway and they are introduced via a question, "Have you seen Luis Velez?" Raymond digs deeper to find that Luis was somewhat of a caregiver to Millie but he recently disappeared. Raymond sets out on a mission to find Luis, but in the meantime acts as his stand in. This is one of those stories where "TMI" can give away the storyline so I will stop there with the story, but will say that along the way Luis meets several different individuals who will become very influential in both his life and Millie's.
I loved the story, just thought it was a little drawn out at times and just could not keep my full attention

What a great story of a young teenage boy, Raymond Jaffee, who befriends an old lady, Mildred Gutermann in his apartment building.
Raymond is someone that never felt he really fit in, not even with his family and he finds that Milldred sees him for who he is without judgment or seeing for that matter.
Mildred has been asking anyone who walked by, if they new or had seen Luis Velez a man who would come by and help her with her errands, and who had become a great friend of hers, Luis had not come for a few weeks and she was worried. Taking over that role, Raymond secretly tries to find Luis Velez, and this brings in many more amazing characters and stories.
This is a book full of many emotions and lessons to learn, and that is what I love about this authors stories. The author always brings up interesting topics that make you reflect on the issues she presents, and may possibly turn you into a better, more understanding person.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book.

Beautiful story. Loved the characters, such a heartfelt story. Easy 5 stars!!! What can I say anything by this author NEVER disappoints!!
Could not recommend enough. Thank you Netgalley.

Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde delivered a poignant, relevant, diverse and heartfelt novel about people, perception and privilege.

I laughed, I cried, and I reflected on many of the issues that were touched upon. This is a fantastic story for Book Club, and one I would love to see everyone read.

Have You Seen Luis Velez? was a powerful tale that reminds us of the power of kindness. This is a novel whose story you will carry with you, long after you’ve closed the book.

A full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer on May 21st and we will share a link on all social media. A review will also post to Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you. Link provided valid on 5/21

Raymond is 17 years old and on his way to school. On his way out of his apartment building he runs into his neighbor who asks "Have you seen Luis Velez?" This is the start of an amazing friendship. Mildred Gutermann is 92 years old, lives alone, and is blind. Luis comes to help her walk to the bank and store but he hasn't been by in weeks. Raymond starts helping her and they become friends. I loved this story. I loved the characters with Mrs. G. being my favorite. This was a beautiful book of friendship, family, loss and friends that becomes family. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. All opinions are my own.

HAVE YOU SEEN LUIS VELEZ by Catherine Ryan Hyde is powerful and moving story of an unexpected friendship between two strangers that ends up saving them. Seventeen-year-old, Raymond feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere. His only friend from school has moved away and his bi-racial divorced parents have both remarried and moved on with their lives, barely including him in their plans. One day he meets ninety-two-year-old, Mildred in the hallway of his apartment building. He learns she is blind and has apparently lost her only caretaker, Luis Velez. Raymond steps in to help Millie and soon their unlikely relationship helps them both see that through kindness and understanding, they have the power to change lives and make the world a better place. The characters in the book are beautifully-portrayed. I felt like I knew them personally. The story kept me engaged from beginning to end. Although it dealt with a lot of serious and heart-breaking issues, the book left me filled with hope that kindness and love can win over hate and division. I enjoyed that Raymond and Millie’s relationship transcended the vast difference in their age and experience. I loved this latest inspiring and thought-provoking novel from Catherine Ryan Hyde and I highly recommend it! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

Tender, thoughtful, sweet. Though there is so much more to this book than just those attributes, these are the words that kept running through my thoughts, as I read. The development of Raymond, the main character, seemed a bit slow at first, and I was concerned, but it was so necessary to get to know Raymond and his family environment to truly appreciate the story line.

While the book touches on the troubling aspect of today's court system, it doesn't overwhelm the story line, and is just thought-provoking enough to push this reader, while maintaining the feeling of a pleasure read.

Raymond and Mrs. G are not typical characters - they make the story so worthwhile.

Raymond Jaffe is not only very physically self-aware, but he's aware of everything and everyone around him, every person and every creature. It's almost as if he feels their feelings, their hurts and their joys.

Raymond is a sensitive 17 year-old-young man, a high school student with no friends and a dysfunctional family, living in New York City. But Raymond makes things happen for the good of others. Raymond is a young man who assigns missions to himself to help others, whether it's a stray cat in an abandoned building or Millie, a ninety two-year-old woman who lives in his building.

Luis Velez is a young father and husband who used to visit Millie three times a week, to help her get to the bank and the grocery store. When Luis fails to show up for several days, out of desperation, Millie takes things into her own hands and makes a connection with Raymond, who lives two floors above Millie in their building.

The rest of the story illustrates not only Raymond's quest to find out what happened to Luis Velez, but the lives of the people he meets along the way, including several people named Luis Velez.

I inhale this author's books for a very good reason. There is always a touch of what seems like magic in all of her stories, and the mind from which these stories springs is one of a kind. It's as if there is a hint of something that is almost too good to be true, but what I believe is that this is not as hard to understand as it would first appear. It is simply that there is a lot more good in the world, and there are a whole lot more good people in the world than we realize, and this author knows them and finds them (or they find her) and she puts them in her excellent stories, so that the rest of us who need to be reminded, are reminded that good always outweighs bad. It seems like an easy concept that should be obvious to everyone, but we need to be reminded sometimes.

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 throughout the city for the stranger named Luis. As he searches, Raymond is confronted with the best (and the worst) parts of society, all the while making friends in strange places, and finally finding a place to belong.
A beautiful story by Catherine Ryan Hyde, “Luis Velez” has the powerful, thoughtful messaging familiar to fans of Frederick Backman or Mitch Albom.
Young Raymond is an unassuming protagonist, and in every unexpected way he abashedly becomes a hero. Discarded by his father and ignored by his mother, this coming-of-age story finds Raymond understanding himself in new ways, with the help of some new (also slightly unexpected) friends.
There are powerful messages for life in this novel, many poignant tenets of love, relationships, and understanding ourselves and our fellow man. Through Mrs. G (the elderly woman who seeks the mysterious Luis), a reader is humbled, awed and inspired.
“Luis Velez” is an easy read, with a creative storyline and charming characters. Each chapter is specifically singled out to tell a certain part of the story, and the storyline is told in order (which is always a plus for me), while we get to learn a little bit about each character.
Although the major plot questions of this novel were resolved, I was not entirely satisfied with the ending. Bittersweet and beautiful yes, but I found disappointment in that I wanted to know more about where the relationship between Mrs. G and Raymond went after the last page. I can presume, obviously, and perhaps that is the intention, but I desperately wanted more about their fate in a more concrete way. Perhaps this speaks to how well the novel was written.
A delightfully charming novel that will stick with you, I was surprised and charmed by “Have You Seen Luis Velez?” Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novel will definitely leave you thinking outside the box, and examining the relationship you have with yourself, and with others around you. Powerful, sweet and endearing, this was quite the surprising little treat!

I loved this book! 5 beautiful stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ go to Catherine Ryan Hyde's Have You Seen Luis Velez. With two beautifully crafted characters that are 75 years a part and a fantastic story, what more could a reader want? I fell in love with the two main characters, Mildred and Raymond.
The storyline is beautifully crafted, every single word. I just loved this book!

Thank Do we really see people?
This is a wonderful , inspiring book about 2 people who help each other.
Millie is 92, blind , needs help , but somehow she sees more than me
Raymond is 17 year old boy , who feels invisible and has no friends and feels he doesn’t belong anywhere.
I loved this story, the characters , their interactions, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough ( or slow enough )
Another fantastic Catherine Ryan Hyde read and one that will stay with me for a long time .

I think this is the most beautiful story I've ever read. It is the kind of tale that restores one's faith in mankind. I've read several of Ms. Hyde's books but this one is by far the best yet. And it jumps to my #1 spot for 2019.

Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing, delivered through NetGalley, and Ms. Hyde for the ARC is exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a wonderful story Raymond, a 17 year old bi-racial teen, that cant figure out where he belongs. He doesn’t fit with his white Mom, his white uninvolved stepfather, or his three half sisters, although he connects somewhat with the younger. His father doesn’t even look at him and talks little, while his step mother wants no part of him. His only friend moved to California.
Then his 92 year old blind neighbor, Mrs G, reaches out to him, he finds the connection that has been missing from his life, as he sets out to find Luis Velez.
Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my top authors and she didn’t disappoint with this poignant story. It is about loneliness, the desire to be loved and valued, the satisfaction that comes with helping someone and the realization that self love matters. As usual this author’s characters are likable, well other than a few of his family members. I loved this book and appreciate the ARC I received from Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley. Another hit from CRH!

Once again Catherine Ryan Hyde has treated us to a beautifully written book featuring beautiful people. No, not glamorous people, but people with real beauty: inner beauty whose beauty shines forth to light the lives of others.

The theme of this book, once again, is how one seemingly insignificant act of kindness will snowball to bless multiple people.

For me, the thing about Hyde’s books is that she doesn’t gloss over life nor give her readers syrup nor fantasy. She takes a realistic situation and shows how people triumph through their adversity because of looking beyond themselves. Nor does she write “how to” books. Her books are simple (but never simplistic!) stories of life where her characters look just one small step beyond their own distress and then take that step.

Highly recommended for everyone. I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy Catherine Ryan Hyde's books and this is no exception. It's a story about loneliness, kindness, prejudice and friendship. The relationship between Raymond and Mrs. G was very special and I found it very interesting when she finally opened up about her past. Our library will be purchasing this book and I will recommend it to our patrons. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn't belong; not in his mother's new family, not at his father's house every other weekend, not in school and now his only friend is moving away. When a woman downstairs in his building asks, "Have You Seen Luis Velez?" Raymond is drawn into the life of a ninety-two-year-old, blind woman named Mildred Gutermann. Millie and Raymond form a friendship that is beneficial to both of them and transcends their ages. Raymond takes it upon himself to try and find out what happened to Luis who came three times a week to help Millie for 4 years until one day Luis didn't show up.

Hyde's stories are always feel good ones for me. She provides hope in an otherwise crazy mixed up world. Being an animal lover, there is usually an animal, which is integral to the story, and in this case it is a feral cat. Luis feeds a cat in an abandoned building and takes it with him when neighborhood boys are looking for it to hurt it. While searching for Millie's Luis, Raymond encounters many who wish they had the time or the opportunity to help others.

This is one of those stories that stayed with me after I finished it. Hyde inspires me to be a better person and to help others. Add this book to your TBR list and you won't be disappointed.

This was a beautiful story of a relationship between a teen and an elderly blind woman. This story was an uplifting book about friendship, kindness and helping fellow humans. This book really makes you feel good.