#Hispanic Booklist

[ireadyabooks]

Books to Read to Celebrate Hispanic & Latine Heritage Month!

Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month is September 15th to October 15th! Check out some titles from Hispanic and Latine creators to read all year long. 

THIS IS OUR PLACE

Set in and narrated by the same house, Number 8 Sunflower Street, and in three different decades -- 2000, 2010, and 2020 respectively -- This Is Our Place is a novel about queer teens dealing with sudden life changes, family conflict, and first loves, proving that while generations change, we will always be connected to each other. 

Start reading This is Our Place! 

ON THE HOOK

Hector has always minded his own business, working hard to make his way to a better life someday. He's the chess team champion, helps the family with his job at the grocery, and teaches his little sister to shoot hoops overhand. Until Joey singles him out. Joey, whose older brother, Chavo, is head of the Discípulos gang, tells Hector that he's going to kill him: maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday. And Hector, frozen with fear, does nothing. From that day forward, Hector's death is hanging over his head every time he leaves the house. He tries to fade into the shadows -- to drop off Joey's radar -- to become no one. But when a fight between Chavo and Hector's brother Fili escalates, Hector is left with no choice but to take a stand. The violent confrontation will take Hector places he never expected, including a reform school where he has to live side-by-side with his enemy, Joey. It's up to Hector to choose whether he's going to lose himself to revenge or get back to the hard work of living.

Start reading On the Hook!

MUTED

Inspired by true events, Muted is a fearless exploration of the dark side of the music industry, the business of exploitation, how a girl's dreams can be used against her -- and what it takes to fight back.

Start reading Muted!

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE

Set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this utterly engrossing debut by Brazilian author Lucas Rocha calls back to Alex Sanchez's Rainbow Boys series, bringing attention to how far we've come with HIV, while shining a harsh light on just how far we have yet to go.

Start reading Where We Go From Here! 

BECOMING MARIA

Pura Belpre Honor winner for The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano and one of America's most influential Hispanics--'Maria' on Sesame Street--delivers a beautifully wrought coming-of-age memoir.

Start reading Becoming Maria!

ILLEGAL 

This is a timely and moving story that takes an unsparing look at the asylum process and the journey to find a new life in the US.

Start reading Illegal!

#hispanic heritage month #booklist #books you need to read #ireadya #yabooks #latinecreators #currently reading

[mplchameleon]

September 15th-October 15th is Hispanic Heritage Month! In honor of this month, here are some YA books featuring queer Hispanic teens!

Books in order, left to right, top row to bottom row:

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Insiders by Mark Oshiro

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

The Mirror Season by A.M. McLemore

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

The Truth Is by NoNieqa Ramos

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

Indivisible by Daniel Aleman

Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria

#Booklist #Hispanic Heritage Month #Hispanic Booklist #Queer Hispanic Books #Queer Hispanic Teens #Queer Latinx Teens #YA Lit #Queer YA Lit #Queer YA Books #Queer Teen Books #Latinx Authors #Queer Latinx Authors #Queer Booklist #Young Adult Lit #Queer YA #Teen Librarian #Medford Public Library #Medford MA #MPL Chameleon

[rockislandadultreads]

Books by Lantinx authors for Latinx Heritage Month

(Don’t worry, there are more recommendations to come!)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . .

From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a novel set in glamorous 1950s Mexico.

After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find - her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, Sophie Hughes (Translation)

The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse—by a group of children playing near the irrigation canals—propels the whole village into an investigation of how and why this murder occurred. Rumors and suspicions spread. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters that most would write off as utterly irredeemable, forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village. Like Roberto Bolano’s 2666 or Faulkner’s greatest novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world filled with mythology and violence—real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it’s a world that becomes more terrifying and more terrifyingly real the deeper you explore it. 

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the world demands more of her than words. Afterlife is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people… In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

#fiction #latinx #latinx authors #latinx heritage month #Reading Recs #currently reading #reading list #Book Recommendations #book recs #reading recommendations #booklr #booklist #library #books to read #hispanic heritage month

[penguinrandomhouse]

Read a book with us for Hispanic Heritage Month! Check out our book list with nonfiction and fiction reads.

See the full list.

#booklr #booklist #book recommendations #sudden death #fruit of the drunken tree #lost empress #coffee #hispanic heritage month

[litlemonbooks]

Hispanic Heritage Month: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Hispanic Heritage Month: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Hispanic Heritage Month started last weekend, this week there will be a mini-series of posts celebrating some noteworthy Hispanic YA reads.

  Author photo is from: https://literary-arts.org/organizer/erika-l-sanchez/

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#bookblog #bookblogger #bookblogs #bookish #booklist #Books #booktalk #bookworm #erikalsanchez #heritage #hispanic #hispanicheritage #Iamnotyourperfectmexicandaughter #read #reader #reading #reads #september #ya #yabooks #yalit #yareader #yareads #youngadult #youngadultreader

[helenclose-blog]

Helen Kahler Readerly Exploration #4, 2/25/19, Tompkins

Reading: Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (Tompkins, Chapters 1)

Big Takeaway:

(Tompkins, Chapter 1) Effective literacy teachers incorporate principles into their instruction to ensure that all students are supported and reach their full potential.

Nugget:

(Tompkins, Chapter 1) I really enjoyed reading the small section on the characteristics of a classroom community. This is something that I know is really important for students and the classroom. I appreciated the different characteristics and learning different ways that they would be effective to incorporate into the classroom. I also appreciated that they were specific characteristics important for student learning.

 Readerly Habit:

Read a wide variety of genres and formats of texts to grow in their knowledge and experiences as a reader

Get inspiration from the assigned course reading(s) to find and read another text from a different genre or format and connect the two in some way.

As I was reading the text, I came across the booklist of multicultural books in the beginning of the chapter. Immediately, this booklist caught my attention because I think that books about different cultures are so important for readers. This list included books from African American, Arab American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American cultures. It’s always exciting to get to learn about new literacy text that can help support readers in the classroom. As I read this list, I remembered a book that I had seen at the library on display in the café that was mentioned in this list. As a result, I decided to go to the library and check out the book, Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This book was full of powerful words and articulate illustrations that definitely made the reading worthwhile. As a reader, this challenged me to think about issues that African Americans have been through for many, many years.

Reading this text also helped me to see the importance of understanding the different theories through how students learn, specifically the Critical literacy theory. This book clearly supported Paulo Freire’s stance that students should address issues of justice and equity. Books like this particularly stand out in a time where there is a lot of social and cultural diversity in America. I think texts like Martin’s Big Words help readers understand social injustice in an appropriate way. I also witnessed the importance of addressing fundamental justice and equity questions as I did a read-aloud with my students in my placement. I read them the story of Ruby Bridges and listened to their responses as they learned about what the individuals who had come before them had been through. These two reading instances helped me to grow and explore in my knowledge of how to address social literacy in the classroom.

Pictures from Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!

[cupofteajones]

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15-Ocotber 15 is #HispanicHeritageMonth! Celebrate the culture and contributions of the Hispanic people with these great titles. #books #NHHM #booklist #diversebooks

September 15-October 15 marks the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, a month long celebration that recognizes people’s contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the country’s history, culture and heritage. If you are looking for ways to celebrate (or just educate yourself more about the hispanic heritage), here are some great book selections that will have you on your way: (more…)

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#Books #Children #children books #Diversity #Diversity in Books #Hispanic Heritage Month #Hispanic Literature #Hispanic Women #Indigenous Literature #We Need Diverse Books #YA Books #Young Adult

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

City of Dark Corners by Jon Talton

 Took me back in time to a place I have visited but never seen in the era of my grandfather was a young man. I did think of him as I read because he, too, was a veteran of the great war and many of the behaviors, comments, and thoughts expressed in this book rang true when thinking about things he said when I was growing up. Almost one hundred years ago…life was different and so was Phoenix. I found this book, based in the facts of the time, fascinating.

 What I liked:

* The writing, plot and story told

* Eugene “Gene” Hammons: Private investigator, ex-homicide detective, veteran of WWI, Phoenix native, brother, Christian, music lover, more open minded than some, a man of his times.

* Victoria Vasquez: independent photographer who also worked for the police department, Hispanic, native Phoenician, daughter, sister, Gene’s girlfriend.

* The relationship between Gene and his brother, Don.

* The glimpse into the past

* Being reminded of the huge changes that have been made since 1933

* Seeing how crimes were solved

* The way PTSD (or what it is now known as) was dealt with in this story

* That it felt as if I had stepped back in time and was there with Gene as he worked on the case

* That the killer of the dismembered woman was eventually revealed

* Wondering about what might happen in the future: will Gene and Victoria end up together? What work will Gene do in the future? Will this be the introduction to a new series or remain a standalone?

* Realizing at the end of the book that many characters that appeared were “real” – and – finding out what happened to them later in their lives.

 What I didn’t like:

* Being reminded of the huge divide between various groups of people and how ethnicity impacted where one fell on the divide.

*Knowing that the same evil lives on in people now that was around back then…in the population, in politics, in gangs-mafias, and on the police force.

* Having to say goodbye to the main characters.

 Did I enjoy this book? Definitely

Would I read more by this author? Without a doubt!

 Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 5 Stars

  BLURB

 Phoenix, 1933: A young city with big dreams and dark corners Great War veteran and rising star Gene Hammons lost his job as a homicide detective when he tried to prove that a woman was wrongly convicted of murder to protect a well-connected man. Now a private investigator, Hammons makes his living looking for missing persons--a plentiful caseload during the Great Depression, when people seem to disappear all the time. But his routine is disrupted when his brother--another homicide detective, still on the force--enlists his help looking into the death of a young woman whose dismembered body is found beside the railroad tracks. The sheriff rules it an accident, but the carnage is too neat, and the staging of the body parts too ritual. Hammons suspects it's the work of a "lust murderer"--similar to the serial strangler whose killing spree he had ended a few years earlier. But who was the poor girl, dressed demurely in pink? And why was his business card tucked into her small purse? As Hammons searches for the victim's identity, he discovers that the dead girl had some secrets of her own, and that the case is connected to some of Phoenix's most powerful citizens--on both sides of the law.

      AUTHOR BIO

 Jon Talton is the author of 13 novels and one work of history. His work has been widely praised by the critics. The Washington Post BookWorld said Concrete Desert is “more intelligent and rewarding than most contemporary mysteries.” In a starred review, Booklist called it “a stunning debut.” The Chicago Tribune lauded Camelback Falls for its “twisty and crafty” plot. For Dry Heat, Publishers Weekly wrote, “Taut prose helps tighten the screws, and the winning, sensitive portrayal of the Mapstones ¬– both of them a relief after too many hard-nosed PIs who are all gristle and no brain – lends credibility to the noirish narrative." Best-selling author Don Winslow called Talton one of America's "extremely talented but under-recognized" authors. Jon is also a veteran journalist. He is the economics columnist for the Seattle Times and is editor and publisher of the blog Rogue Columnist. For more than 25 years Jon has covered business and finance, specializing in urban economies, energy, real estate and economics and public policy. Jon has been a columnist for the Arizona Republic, Charlotte Observer and Rocky Mountain News, and his columns have appeared in newspapers throughout North America on the New York Times News Service and other news services. Jon has been a regular guest on CNBC. Jon served as business editor for several newspapers, including the Dayton Daily News, Rocky Mountain News, Cincinnati Enquirer and Charlotte Observer. At Dayton, he was part of a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service, for the nation’s first computer-assisted report on worker safety. In Charlotte, the business section was honored as one of the nation’s best by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Among the stories he has covered are the landmark Texaco-Pennzoil trial; the collapse of energy prices in the 1980s; the troubles of General Motors and the American auto industry; the big bank mergers of the ‘90s, and America’s downtown renaissance. He was a Knight Western Fellow in Journalism at the University of Southern California and a community fellow at the Morrison Institute at Arizona State University. Before journalism, he worked for four years as an ambulance medic in the inner city of Phoenix. He also was an instructor in theater at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

#Jon Talton #Poisoned Pen Press #NetGalley #1933 #Private Investigator #PTSD #Crime #Murder #Fiction #Phoenix #Arizona #Historical Fiction

[aramirezreviews2]

Just a minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book

Written by Yuyi Morales 

reviewed by: Amanda Ramirez

Morales, Y. (2016). Just a minute: A trickster tale and counting book. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

ISBN13: 9780811837583

SUMMARY

In this original trickster tale, Grandma Beetle gets an unexpected visitor at her door, Señor Calavera! He lets Grandma Beetle know it is time for her to go with him right away. Grandma Beetle tells him “Just a minute…” as she needs to sweep ONE/UNO house. But that is just the beginning of her list! After every task, counting down in both English and Spanish, Grandma Beetle tricks Señor Calavera into delaying their trip so she may spend her birthday with her family.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In this trickster tale Grandma Beetle’s unexpected guest at the door, Señor Calavera, is meant to be death knocking at her door. All day Señor Calavera is requesting Grandma Beetle to go with him to which she answers, “Just a minute…” and proceeds to complete another numbered task. The repetition in tasks and the counting on each page follow traditional style, but by adding the Spanish numbers really adds Morales unique voice. Halfway through the story, Señor Calavera is frustrated with the constant delay but finds himself assisting Grandma Beetle with her tasks. In traditional tale style the time most fairly quickly in the day, and we see that she was preparing her home for a family party to celebrate her birthday one last time before she is ready to go. Everyone is invited, including Señor Calavera to the table. The story resolves with Señor Calaveras departure alone and a note he left behind stating that he quite enjoyed the party and wouldn’t miss another birthday. In the end Grandma Beetle, whether intended or not, tricked death into letting her stay for “just a minute”. In traditional tales’ death would likely be considered the evil counterpart to Grandma Beetle's good, however, Señor Calavera did leave without her.

This book is beautifully illustrated from the moment you open the book. There is papel picado decorating the title page with chile garland. The illustrations are vibrant and remind me of Chicano artwork, as both are heavily inspired by Mexican American heritage. The way the setting of Grandma Beetle’s home and family is depicted is reminiscent of the artwork by Carmen Lomas Garza. Even the way Señor Calavera, who is a skeleton, is illustrated with decorative paint on his face and arms is strongly rooted in the Hispanic culture as sugar skulls.

REVIEW EXCERPTS 

“Morales (Harvesting Hope) whips up a visually striking book, and funny to boot. Her deep, glowing pastels and stylized human characterizations beautifully conjure the traditions of Latin American muralists, while Señor Calavera's ghoulish, goofy gallantry would make him the comic lead of any Day of the Dead festivity.” -Publishers Weekly 

“As Grandma, round and brown, with sparkles in her eyes and gray hair both, bustles about, the expression on Señor Calavera's sugar-skull face grows more and more hilariously impatient--but by party's end, he's departed, leaving a thank-you note promising to be back for Grandma Beetle's next birthday. Lit with dancing lines and warm colors, Morales's illustrations enhance the appeal of this winning story even further” -Kirkus Review

“Like the text, the rich, lively artwork draws strongly upon Mexican culture, with hints of Diego Rivera in Grandma's robust form, and the skeleton resembling the whimsical figurines often seen in Day of the Dead folk art. Along with their useful math and multicultural elements, the splendid art and spiritual storytelling auger a long, full life for this original folktale.” - Booklist

AWARDED:

Pura Belpré Award for Illustration Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

CONNECTIONS

The story is heavily influenced by the Hispanic culture, I think this would be a great addition to a Día de los Muertos story time. It is a great way to introduce this Mexican celebration, along with other helpful books that are similar in story.

Yuyi Morales has a second book that follows Señor Calavera and Grandma Beetle called “Just in case” and would make a great addition to this story time. If you’d like to include a film for said program, the Pixar film Coco would be an excellent show!

Related books:

Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh

Rosita y Conchita: A Rhyming Storybook in English and Spanish by Eric Gonzalez

A Gift for Abuelita: Celebrating the Day of the Dead / Un regalo para Abuelita: En celebracion del Día de los Muertos by Nancy Luenn 

#Genre 2 Traditional Tales

[relaylibrary]

October Interesting Links

Happy October, Relay!

Fall has always been my favourite season - the weather! The sweaters! The leaves! And, of course, Halloween! I expect Halloween this year will look a little different than years past, and it might even generate some new traditions. If you're searching for something new, might I suggest bringing back the Halloween postcard? These old postcards range from cute to punny to deeply, deeply bizarre, and I'm delighted by all of them. What a better way to support the post office and greet your friends and family than by sending a card with a pumpkin person chauffeuring a witch and a black cat in a car carved out of a squash?  

Read on for this month’s interesting links!

September 15-October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month! Browse this list of classroom resources, attend a virtual event, or check out some of these adult fiction or KidLit/YA booklists. 

The deadline for voter registration is this month in most states! If you haven't yet, you can check your voter registration status here (or request an absentee ballot); and you can prepare for the polls before November by double checking ID requirements in your state. 

Check out this list of children's books that cover Big Topics! These recommendations cover topics including celebrating race and culture, disability and learning differences, bodies and bodily autonomy, and coping with COVID-19, among many others. 

Halloween might feel a little different this year, but that doesn't need to keep you from getting into the spooky spirit with these horror books by authors of color. 

"As promised, we are retelling the great works of Homer in meme form."

#interesting links #hispanic heritage month #voter registration #children's literature #kidlit #halloween #horror books #book recommendations #book list

[ourvoces]

#OurVoces presents Sofia Quintero, author of ‘Show and Prove’

¡Qué bonita bandera! AKA what heritage(s) do you claim?

I am an unapologetically Black-identified DominiRican, My mother is from La Romana in the Dominican Republic, and my father is from Mayaüez, Puerto Rico. I was born and raised in the Bronx, and I would argue that being a caribeña from New York City is a distinct identity. 

When was the first time you saw yourself represented?

It absolutely was Sonia Manzano who played Maria on Sesame Street and soon thereafter Freddie Prinze on Chico and the Man. I was an adult when I first saw myself as a Latina in a book, and unfortunately, it was in Oscar Lewis’ La Vida. As a young adult, the closest I came to seeing myself were in the African American characters in books by Walter Dean Myers and Rosa Guy.

How do you connect to your heritage through your books (if at all)?

I’ve written six novels and twice as many short stories and novellas, and in every single one you will find a Puerto Rican or Dominican woman or girl even if they’re not the protagonist. I write the characters whose relationship to their Latindad departs from what you might read in the average intro to Latino literature course. The one whose first -- and maybe only language -- is English, doesn’t dance salsa and didn’t have a special relationship with her abuelita, and for whom all that is a point of pain. The one who isn’t preoccupied with “straddling two cultures” because she intuitively understands that she’s at once much simpler and more complicated than that. The one who knows all of Cardi B’s songs and reads Sonia Sotomayor’s decisions.

In fact, in mostly all of my stories you’ll find specifically a Latinx hip-hop feminist whether she identifies explicitly as that or not.

What do you hope for the future of Latinx books?

My biggest hope is to see more of our work adapted for TV and film. Although we remain underrepresented, we still have a tremendous body of work that crosses genres and aesthetics. We have and continue to write everything from horror to satire, and yet people still have a very narrow idea of what makes Latinx literature. And as someone who writes frequently about Latinx people from urban communities who are low-income, I’d like to see the shaming of that fall away. Yes, we need to have more depictions of people who are doctors and lawyers and such, but we do not have to render invisible those who are not. The answer is to complicate them not erase them. 

What is the book that inspired you to write for kids/teens?

That’s a tough one to answer because it was reading YA as a teen myself that inspired me to write. I was a teen writing for teens, and not only was I reading voraciously, that was, like, over thirty years ago. The authors I remember striking a chord with me when I was in seventh, eighth grade were Judy Blume, Marilyn Sachs, Ellen Conford, S.E. Hinton, Sonia Pilcer,  Paul Zindel and Walter Dean Myers. And Charles Dickens. (En serio.) I didn’t have the diversity of writers and characters that are available to young people now so imagine the amazing stories we’re in for when these young writers of color come of age.

What are you writing now?

I’m currently working on a middle-grade series, developing a TV show based on one of my novels for adults and a few screenplays. I’m also re-publishing my Black Artemis backlist - that’s the pen name under which I wrote three novels of feminist hip-hop noir. Just for the hell of it, I’m writing a multimedia novel on my blog that I update when I need a break from the other projects.  My latest available YA novel is Show and Prove which is set in the summer of 1983 in the South Bronx and has a nifty cultural dictionary to go along with it.  

After graduating from Columbia University with a BA in history-sociology and an MPA from its School of International and Public Affairs, Sofia Quintero began her first career as a policy analyst and advocate. She worked for various nonprofit organizations and government agencies including the Vera Institute of Justice, Hispanic AIDS Forum, and the New York City Independent Budget Office. After years of working on diverse policy issues, however, Sofia heeded her muse to pursue an entertainment career. Determined to write edgy yet intelligent novels for women who love hip hop even when hip-hop fails to love them in return, Sofía wrote her debut novel EXPLICIT CONTENT under the pen name Black Artemis. Booklist said of her debut, “Fans of Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever will find this debut novel just as tantalizing. . .” Since then Sofia has authored four more novels and almost twice as many short stories and novellas including her award-winning young adult debut EFRAIN’S SECRET (Knopf 2010.) She recently earned an MFA in writing and producing TV at the TV Writers Studio of Long Island University and contributed the children’s anthology WHAT YOU WISH FOR, the proceeds of which go to build libraries for Darfuri children in Chad. Her journalistic writings have been published in Urban Latino, New York Post, Ms., Cosmopolitan for Latinas and El Diario/La Prensa. As an educator, she is a writing mentor at Urban Word NYC, a teaching artist at the National Book Foundation’s reading program BookUpNYC and the co-publisher of the hip-hop feminist curriculum Conscious Women Rock the Page. Sofia was nominated for the Women’s Media Center Social Media Award in 2010 and is completing her next young adult novel SHOW AND PROVE.

Website * Twitter * Instagram * Wattpad * Facebook * Buy

#sofia quintero #authors of color #author life #meet the authors #kidlit authors #show and prive #hispanic heritage month #latinxs in kidlit #ya lit #latinx in kidlit

[rockislandadultreads]

Even more books by Lantinx authors for Latinx Heritage Month

(summaries from goodreads.com)

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children, but both are promised a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class. Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her bright future depends upon no one discovering her darkest secret—that her pedigree is a lie. Her parents sacrificed everything to obtain forged identification papers so Dani could rise above her station. Now that her marriage to an important politico’s son is fast approaching, she must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society, where famine and poverty rule supreme. On her graduation night, Dani seems to be in the clear, despite the surprises that unfold. But nothing prepares her for all the difficult choices she must make, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio. Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or to give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?

Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Renowned author Silvia Moreno-Garcia's first thriller, UNTAMED SHORE, is a coming-of-age story set in Mexico which quickly turns dark when a young woman meets three enigmatic tourists. Baja California, 1979. Viridiana spends her days watching the dead sharks piled beside the seashore, as the fishermen pull their nets. There is nothing else to do, nothing else to watch, under the harsh sun. She’s bored. Terribly bored. Yet her head is filled with dreams of Hollywood films, of romance, of a future beyond the drab town where her only option is to marry and have children. Three wealthy American tourists arrive for the summer, and Viridiana is magnetized. She immediately becomes entwined in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from the promise of a humdrum future. When one of them dies, Viridiana lies to protect her friends. Soon enough, someone’s asking questions, and Viridiana has some of her own about the identity of her new acquaintances. Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman who is quickly being tangled in a web of deceit. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the most exciting voices in fiction, and with her first crime novel, UNTAMED SHORE, she crafts a blazing novel of suspense with an eerie seaside setting and a literary edge that proves her a master of the genre.

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

A wedding planner left at the altar. Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s managed to make other people’s dreams come true as a top-tier wedding coordinator in DC. After impressing an influential guest, she’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials. Tired of living in his older brother’s shadow, marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him. If they can survive the next few weeks and nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own. But even the best laid plans can go awry, and soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata

The mesmerizing story of a Latin American science fiction writer and the lives her lost manuscript unites decades later in post-Katrina New Orleans In 1929 in New Orleans, a Dominican immigrant named Adana Moreau writes a science fiction novel. The novel earns rave reviews, and Adana begins a sequel. Then she falls gravely ill. Just before she dies, she destroys the only copy of the manuscript. Decades later in Chicago, Saul Drower is cleaning out his dead grandfather’s home when he discovers a mysterious manuscript written by none other than Adana Moreau. With the help of his friend Javier, Saul tracks down an address for Adana’s son in New Orleans, but as Hurricane Katrina strikes they must head to the storm-ravaged city for answers. What results is a brilliantly layered masterpiece—an ode to home, storytelling and the possibility of parallel worlds.

#Latinx #latinx authors #latinx heritage month #hispanic heritage month #authors of color #reading list #booklist #books to read #to read #reading recs #book recs #Book Recommendations #reading recommendations #booklr #library #public library #fiction

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(via *An Evening with Author Carolina de Robertis :: Calendar :: San Francisco Public Library) This Wednesday, October 9th, from 6-7:30pm, please join us in Latino/Hispanic Rooms A&B for a reading, discussion, and book sale of "Cantoras" with Bay Area author Carolina de Robertis as part of the 2019 San Francisco Public Library's ¡VIVA! Celebration of Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month. A writer of Uruguayan origins, Ms. De Robertis, is the author of the novels The Gods of Tango, Perla, and the international bestseller The Invisible Mountain. Her books have been translated into seventeen languages, and have been named Best Books of the Year in venues including the San Francisco Chronicle, O, The Oprah Magazine, BookList, and NBC. She is the recipient of a Stonewall Book Award, Italy’s Rhegium Julii Prize, and a 2012 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other honors.

#carolina de robertis #uruguay #uruguayan #latina #latina writers #san francisco #sf #sfpl #latino heritage month

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Booklist: Activism for Kids

A is for Activists: ABC Board Book. Like Howard Zinn for toddlers.

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy: Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has spent a lifetime disagreeing: disagreeing with inequality, arguing against unfair treatment, and standing up for what’s right for people everywhere. This biographical picture book about the Notorious RBG, tells the justice’s story through the lens of her many famous dissents, or disagreements. (Grades 3-5)

The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, A Young Civil Rights Activist by Vanessa Brantley-Newton: Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this moving picture book that proves you’re never too little to make a difference. (K-Gr 4)

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatuih: Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California. (Gr 2-5)

It’s Your World–If You Don’t Like It, Change It: Activism for Teens by Mikki Halpin. Free Speech. Racism. The Environment. Gay Rights. Bullying and School Safety. Animal Welfare. War. Information about Safe Sex and Birth Control. Free Speech. HIV and AIDS. Women’s Rights. These are the issues you care about–and now you can do something about them. It’s Your World will show you how to act on your beliefs, no matter what they are, and make a difference. The ideas are easy to implement. Each section is accompanied by authentic accounts of student experiences, including successes as well as difficulties, in trying to change their school or community or influence a world issue, such as the war in Iraq. Many of the ideas are easily doable. The discussions end with an annotated list of Web sites, books, and movies while the book concludes with a seven-page resource list for general activism. This is an important book that will empower any young adult who would like to make a difference. (Gr 7-12)

These titles will be available soon at The Literati Press Bookshop 3010 Paseo OKC.

#saveourstate #makeamericareadagain