Recommended Reading: Latinx Heritage Month
September 15 - October 15 celebrates Latinx Heritage Month, sometimes also referred to as Hispanic Heritage Month. Below we collected a few books we highly recommend written by authors from the Latinx diaspora that would make an excellent addition to your reading list.
For more book recommendations see our Latinx Heritage booklist.
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Set in the 1960s Dominican Republic, under the Trujillo dictatorship, this novel follows the lives of the Mirabela sisters as they grow through their teenage years into adulthood and gradually become more involved with the revolution. Throughout the book we get the distinct perspective of each sister, including Dede—the fourth sister and the only one to survive—who reflects on the years of the revolution from an old age. (Lindsay)
Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
From the author of Cenzontle comes this intimate memoir about the author and his family’s experience being undocumented in the U.S., a nation of unique cruelty. In lyrical and viscerally-felt prose the author describes both the vigilance and invisibility he was forced to adopt, due to the constant looming threat of deportation. Castillo details his parents and his own confrontation with the dehumanizing U.S. immigration system, the many ways it fractured his family, and relentlessness with which it sought to confiscate their dignity. A candid exploration of masculinity, diaspora, displacement, & (be)longing. (Serena)
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is one of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard University. Villavicenio travelled the country gathering stories from undocumented immigrants with the hopes of connecting their experiences to her own and exploring the broader notions of what it means to be an undocumented immigrant in America. (Lindsay)
The President and the Frog by Carolina de Robertis
Before he was the president, he was a guerilla fighter who sought to overthrow the government he would later lead. His revolutionary ways lead him to face imprisonment, torture, and, for many years, isolation in a dark, dirt hole...and this is where he first met the talking frog. Now, the ex-president sits in the garden of his humble home where he is being interviewed by a Norwegian reporter, wondering if he should reveal to her the one and only story that he has guarded from the world: the story of the frog. Visionary, philosophical, and forward-thinking. (Serena)
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
It’s the early 1960’s when 15-year-old Ana Cancion emigrates to New York City by way of the Dominican Republic, after her mother forces her to marry 32-year-old businessman, Juan Ruiz. Homesick Ana must now attempt to carve a small life for herself under the surveillance of an oppressive husband, in a dizzyingly foreign new land. This story—inspired by the author’s mother—enters your heart surreptitiously and never leaves. I can’t stop thinking about Ana, in her, Cruz honors the sacrifices made by every first-generation, immigrant girl of her likeness; in particular, those forced to become women too soon. — Serena
Also now available in Spanish!
A Song of Frutas by Margarita Engle
Vivid and adorable illustrations tell the story of a relationship between a girl and her abuelo, the colorful fun they have when they're together, and the longing and letters that fill the space when they are separated. Dotted with Spanglish sentences, reading it feels like a warm hug of Cuban-American culture. (Kristina)
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed by Saraciea J. Fennell
I was drawn to this anthology because I’m a fan of ALL the authors; including Meg Medina, Elizabeth Acevado, Ibi Zoboi, and one of Books Are Magic’s local faves, Mark Oshiro who wrote Each of Us a Desert and Anger is a Gift. Mark Oshiro starts the anthology - I have to say, the way it’s written is pure genius! The rest of the collection is just as amazing but Mark truly sets the scene. (Jacque)
Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer by Jaime Figueroa
In their childhood home riddled with memories and spirits—an angel, a ghost baby, and their recently-deceased but still-present mother, Rosalinda—Rufina strikes a bet with her grief-stricken brother, Rafa. Rafa longs to join the world of spirits but agrees to stay alive if they can hustle enough tourist money to leave Ciudad de Tres Hermanas. The catch: they only have the weekend. What follows is a mesmeric, incantatory, and heartachingly beautiful story about two siblings’ attempt to grapple with the profound complexities of loss. (Serena)
Eat the Mouth that Feeds You by Carribean Fragoza
This debut collection of short gothic fiction centers around Latinx women characters dealing with themes of motherhood, desire, violence, family curses and more. Surreal, sharp, and soulful, this one promises to leave marks in all those who read it. As someone who loves a healthy mix of tenderness, fabulism, and brutality in my short stories—and who adored Sabrina & Corina—this was one of my most anticipated books of 2021 and it did not disappoint! (Serena)
A timely story about undocumented Americans + Argentinian folklore
I can’t rave enough how immersive the Wolves of No World duology is! After reading Lobizona last year, I had to wait a whole year to read the second - it was so suspenseful. Now - you lucky duck - you can binge on both! It’s one of those books that make you think, “Wow, I can’t believe someone has this sort of imagination - I need to get on that level.” (Jacque)
Thrown in the Throat by Benjamin Garcia
In this highly-saturated and multi-textured memoir, Rajiv Mohabir invents a mode to encompass the complexities of his existence as an Indo-Guyanese poet who is “queer sexually, queer religiously, queer by caste, and queer countried.” With an intergenerational life story marked by various migrations—and some may say, transgressions—Mohabir carves a vessel to contain his multitudes using the instruments of prose, song, poetry, and prayer. Authentic and defiant, this memoir responds to erasure with assertion, to derogation with reclamation, and to fragmentation with relation. Fans of Ocean Vuong, Alexander Chee, and Saeed Jones will adore this book! — Serena
Three Novels by Yuri Herrera trans. Lisa Dillman
& Other Stories brings three of Herrera’s short novels into one stunning collection. These are short, beautiful, haunting tales from Mexico. They are so fun and messed up! If you haven’t read Herrera Yur-in for a surprise! (Nick)
The Kissing Bug by Daisy Hernandez
I love this memoir! We got SCIENCE, we got generational TRAUMA, and best of all EXPOSURE OF OUR WACK HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. Daisy Hernandez weaves together family memoir and investigative journalism to uncover a parasitic disease that ultimately killed her aunt. This is a riveting and nuanced investigation into racial politics and for-profit healthcare in the United States. It's fascinating, informative, and beautiful! You're going to love it! (Nat)
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higeruo
The most unique middle grade novel I’ve read in a long long time. A lot of middle grade books nowadays are way too similar - this one is a special rarity - sci-fi adventure interwoven with Mexican folklore! The Last Cuentista tells the story of Petra Peña - who travels 370 years into the future. Petra is forced into a literal out-of-this-world adventure when earth is hit by a comet - the last humans make a centuries long journey to a new home planet; when Petra awakes she discovers she is the only human left who remembers earth. (Jacque)
An Apprenticeship Or the Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector
New Directions is at it again with another translation from legendary author, Clarice Lispector. Her books are surreal and cuckoo bananas, but what's more cuckoo bananas is that she fell asleep smoking a cigarette one day and woke up to her house in flames. She suffered severe third degree burns and during her months recovering in the hospital, she wrote this romance novel! This book is extra spicy and fun! (Nat)
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Carmen Maria Machado provides an honest and harrowing memoir reflecting on her psychologically abusive relationship. Machado contrasts her memories with true examples of oppression in queer history, and narrative tropes. A beautiful exploration of the reality of abuse in queer relationships and a necessary account that subverts any idea of what a memoir can be. She rules, let her rock your world! (Nat)
Hurricane Season by Fernada Melchor
A witch is murdered in a small town in Mexico, but who did it? This novel is told from the perspective of a series of unreliable narrators, obsessed with superstition. It's an intense tale of horror mixed with true crime that can make your skin crawl, but I couldn't stop reading. And when I wasn't reading, I was thinking about it! Not for the faint of heart but a fantastic original novel I will not soon forget. (Nat)
Variations On the Body by Maria Ospina
Hear ye! Hear ye! Fans of Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties, here are some more fantastic tales centered around women's bodies. These six subtly connected stories explore the obsessions and desires of women in Colombian society. Prose doesn't get any better than this folks, and Maria Ospina has written such a tight debut full of humor and heartbreak. It's sweet and short and you're going to like the way you look! (Nat)
Set in the aughts in Bogotá, these stories orbit several Colombian women, and one girl, who are all connected, by locale, yes, but also by their common, often inexplicable, impulses and appetites. One woman is a reformed Marxist guerilla, attempting to approximate some sense of normalcy through drugstore beauty products. Another is a voyeuristic novelist who has developed a fixation on the girls of her neighborhood convent. They each are desperate to be seen, and yet deeply fearful of it. This book offers an alluring union between rawness and refinement. (Serena)
See our whole Latinx Heritage book list!
