September Reads: Latine & Hispanic Heritage Month

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While we are already halfway through September, we are only three days into Latine & Hispanic Heritage month, so I’m giving myself a little grace, that I am only 3 books into my reading list for the month. (Feel free to do the same!)

This month I selected seven books telling various (fiction & non-fiction) stories from Latine perspectives. Please share your impressions if you’ve read them!

Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon

First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez

When fifteen-year-old Maribel Rivera sustains a terrible injury, the Riveras leave behind a comfortable life in Mexico and risk everything to come to the United States so that Maribel can have the care she needs. Once they arrive, it’s not long before Maribel attracts the attention of Mayor Toro, the son of one of their new neighbors, who sees a kindred spirit in this beautiful, damaged outsider. Their love story sets in motion events that will have profound repercussions for everyone involved. Here Henríquez seamlessly interweaves the story of these star-crossed lovers, and of the Rivera and Toro families, with the testimonials of men and women who have come to the United States from all over Latin America.

Borderless by Jennifer De Leon

Caught in the crosshairs of gang violence, a teen girl and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US border in this “engrossing” (Kirkus Reviews) young adult novel from the author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From.

Big Chicas Don’t Cry by Annette Chavez Macias

Four cousins navigate love, loss, and the meaning of family over the course of one memorable year in this heartfelt family drama.

My Broken Language: A memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Quiara Alegría Hudes was the sharp-eyed girl on the stairs while her family danced their defiance in a tight North Philly kitchen. She was awed by her mother and aunts and cousins, but haunted by the unspoken, untold stories of the barrio—even as she tried to find her own voice in the sea of language around her, written and spoken, English and Spanish, bodies and books, Western art and sacred altars. Her family became her private pantheon, a gathering circle of powerful orisha-like women with tragic real-world wounds, and she vowed to tell their stories—but first she’d have to get off the stairs and join the dance. She’d have to find her language.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

A “stunning” (America Ferrera) YA novel about a teenager coming to terms with losing her sister and finding herself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican American home—from the author of Crying in the Bathroom.

Solito by Javier Zamora

A young poet tells the inspiring story of his migration from El Salvador to the United States at the age of nine in this “gripping memoir” (NPR) of bravery, hope, and finding family.  

Mexikid: A graphic memoir by Pedro Martín

An unforgettable graphic memoir about a Mexican-American boy’s family and their adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico to live with them that National Book Award Finalist Victoria Jamieson calls “one of those books that kids will pass to their friends as soon as they have finished it.”