Books for Hispanic Heritage Month
Celebrating the contributions and rich cultural heritage of Hispanic and Latinx individuals.
August 9, 2023
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15.
These works of fiction, memoir and biography, and non-fiction offer a window into the diverse experiences of this vibrant community. Whether you are looking to deepen your understanding of Hispanic and Latinx culture or simply looking for a great read, this book list has something for everyone.
Join us as we celebrate the voices and stories that shape our world!
Fiction
Family Lore
Elizabeth Acevedo
Follows the lives of several generations of women in the Marte family after gathering to honor Flor, who can predict the day someone will die, decides to throw herself a huge party as a living wake.
A Long Petal Of The Sea
Isabel Allende
Sponsored by the poet Pablo Neruda to flee the violence of the Spanish Civil War, a pregnant widow and an army doctor unite in an arranged marriage only to be swept up by the early days of World War II.
How The García Girls Lost Their Accents
Julia Alvarez
Forced to flee their native Caribbean island after an attempted coup, the Garcias–Carlos, Laura, and their four daughters–must learn a new way of life in the Bronx, while trying to cling to the old ways that they loved.
It Would Be Night In Caracas
Karina Sainz Borgo
A woman tests the limits of what she is willing to do to secure her future in turbulent modern Venezuela overrun by violent revolutionaries.
The Hacienda
Isabel Cañas
Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches…
Where We Come From
Oscar Cásares
Moving to his godmother’s volatile Texas border town after his mother’s sudden death, a twelve-year-old Mexican-American boy discovers a young illegal immigrant taking shelter in his godmother’s home before their shared desire for independence puts all of them at risk.
The House On Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros
For Esperanza, a young girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago, life is an endless landscape of concrete and run-down tenements, and she tries to rise above the hopelessness.
Next Year In Havana
Chanel Cleeton
Marisol Ferrera returns to her grandmother’s homeland to fulfill her last wish to have her ashes scattered in Havana and discovers her family history amidst Cuba’s tropical beauty and dangerous political environment.
Prayers For The Stolen
Jennifer Clement
Born in a rural Mexico region where girls are disguised as boys to avoid the attentions of traffickers, Ladydi dreams of a better life before moving to Mexico City, where she falls in love and ends up in a prison with other women who share her experiences.
Fruit Of The Drunken Tree
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
A debut novel by an award-winning writer is set against the violence of 1990s Columbia and follows a sheltered girl and a teen maid, who forge an unlikely friendship that threatens to undo them both.
The Inheritance Of Orquídea Divina
Zoraida Córdova
Seven years after their matriarch Orquidea passed away, blessing them with her special gifts, the Montoya family journeys to Ecuador to uncover the truth behind their inheritance to stop a hidden figure from killing off Orquidea’s line one-by-one.
Make Your Home Among Strangers
Jennine Capo Crucet
Upsetting her family by attending an elite college far from home, Cuban-American Lizet struggles with identity issues and her father’s abandonment before meeting a young boy whose mother’s death enmeshes Lizet’s family in Florida’s heated immigration debates.
Dominicana
Angie Cruz
The award-winning author of Soledad draws on her mother’s story in a tale set in a turbulent 1960s Dominican Republic, where a young teen agrees to marry a man twice her age to help her family’s immigration to America.
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz
Living with an old-world mother and rebellious sister, an urban New Jersey misfit dreams of becoming the next J. R. R. Tolkien and believes that a long-standing family curse is thwarting his efforts to find love and happiness.
Infinite Country
Patricia Engel
Moving their family to what they believe will be a safer but temporary home in Houston, two young parents are forced to choose between an undocumented status in America and returning to the violence of war-torn Bogota.
Our Share Of Night
Mariana Enriquez
United in grief after the death of the wife and mother they both loved, a young father and son travel to confront the terrifying legacy she bequeathed–a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality.
Like Water For Chocolate
In Monthly Installments, With Recipes, Romances, And Home Remedies
Laura Esquivel
Despite the fact that she has fallen in love with a young man, Tita, the youngest of three daughters born to a tyrannical ranch must obey tradition and remain single and at home to care for her mother.
Woman Of Light
Kali Fajardo-Anstine
In 1930s Denver, Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, begins having visions that transport her to her Indigenous homeland in the nearby Lost Territory where she must save her family stories from disappearing into oblivion.
How To Order The Universe
María José Ferrada
A richly imaginative debut, detailing a girl and her father finding their way-and themselves-while they work as traveling hardware salesmen in Pinochet-era Chile, is a rare work of magic and originality.
Dreaming In Cuban
Cristina Garcia
Three generations of women in the del Pino family, divided over conflicting political loyalties after the Cuban revolution, are reunited in Havana by a devoted granddaughter who has refused to sacrifice her family ideals.
Of Women, Salt
Gabriela Garcia
The daughter of a Cuban immigrant battles addiction and the fallout of her decision to take in the child of an ICE detainee, while her mother wrestles with displacement trauma and complicated family ties.
Olga Dies Dreaming
Xochitl Gonzalez
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, Olga, the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers, must confront the effects of long-held family secrets when she falls in love with Matteo, while other family members must weather their own storms.
The Book Of Unknown Americans
Cristina Henríquez
Moving from Mexico to America when their daughter suffers a near-fatal accident, the Riveras confront cultural barriers, their daughter’s difficult recovery and her developing relationship with a Panamanian boy.
The Spanish Daughter
Lorena Hughes
Inheriting a cocoa plantation in Vinces, Ecuador, that someone will kill for, Puri, after her husband is murdered, assumes his identity to search for the truth of her father’s legacy and learn the identity of the enemy who stands in her way of claiming her birthright.
Harsh Times
Mario Vargas Llosa
Describes the international conspiracies and conflicting interests during the Cold War that led the CIA to assist in perpetrating a coup in Guatemala in 1954, in a new novel from the Nobel Prize in Literature Award-winning author.
Hades, Argentina
Daniel Loedel
A medical student in Buenos Aires must decide how far he’s willing to go for his childhood crush and the group of insurgents she’s joined as more and more people like her are disappeared by an oppressive military junta.
Lost Children Archive
Valeria Luiselli
An artist couple set out with their two children on a road trip from New York to Arizona in the heat of summer. As the family travels west, the bonds between them begin to fray: a fracture is growing between the parents, one the children can almost feel beneath their feet.
Love In The Time Of Cholera
Gabriel García Márquez
Set on the Caribbean coast of South America, this love story brings together Fermina Daza, her distinguished husband, and a man who has secretly loved her for more than fifty years.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel follows the experiences of a courageous socialite in 1950s Mexico who is drawn into the treacherous secrets of an isolated mansion.
Neruda On The Park
Cleyvis Natera
While her mother, an elder in a predominantly Dominican part of NYC, devises increasingly dangerous schemes to stop construction of luxury condos, her daughter, an associate at a top Manhattan law firm, becomes distracted by a romance with the white developer of the company her mother so vehemently opposes.
Cantoras
Carolina De Robertis
Enduring the rampant violence against women and the LGBTQ community in the decades of the Uruguayan dictatorship, five women heartbreakingly unite as lovers, friends and family.
Border Child
Michel Stone
A young Mexican couple dreaming of a better life in the United States is thrown into turmoil when their infant daughter goes missing during an impetuous border crossing, a loss that affects their subsequent family life.
The News From Paraguay
Lily Tuck
Pursued by the future dictator of Paraguay, Irish courtesan Ella Lynch struggles with isolation in spite of her power as his mistress, and witnesses the nation’s victimization due to her lover’s arrogant ambitions.
The Shape Of The Ruins
Juan Gabriel Vasquez
A man who was arrested for attempting to steal a suit belonging to a murdered politician from a Columbian museum sets of a series of public fixations on conspiracy theories, assassinations, and the country’s historical secrets.
The Taste Of Sugar
Marisel Vera
Relocating to the sugar plantations of Hawaii when their Caribbean farm is decimated by the Spanish-American War and the San Ciriaco Hurricane, two Puerto Ricans join thousands of fellow refugees in confronting the realities of American prosperity.
Ways Of Going Home
Alejandro Zambra
The writer son of a quiet sympathizer with the Pinochet regime reflects on the progress of his novel, in which an unnamed boy from a Chilean suburb witnesses an earthquake and meets an older girl who asks him to spy on her uncle.
The Lost Book Of Adana Moreau
Michael Zapata
Decades after a 1929 Dominican immigrant writer passes away believing her final manuscript was destroyed, a Chicago lawyer discovers the book and endeavors to learn the woman’s remarkable story against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina.
Biography and Memoir
Illegally Yours
Rafael Agustin
This heartwarming and comical memoir looks at how a successful TV writer accidentally discovered that he was an undocumented immigrant in his teenage years and how it turned his entire world upside down.
My Invented Country
A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile
Isabel Allende
The author of Portrait in Sepia profiles the landscapes and people of her native country; recounts the 1973 assassination of her uncle, which caused her to go into exile and choose to become a writer; and shares her experiences as an immigrant in post-September 11 America.
¡Hola Papi!
How To Come Out In A Walmart Parking Lot, Other Life Lessons
John Paul Brammer
The popular LGBTQ columnist and writer presents a memoir though a series of essays that chronicle his life growing up as queer, mixed race kid and offers advice for young people facing the same journey.
Children Of The Land
Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
An award-winning poet chronicles his experiences of growing up undocumented in the United States, describing how his family and his attempt to establish an adult life were heartbreakingly complicated by racist policies.
The Book Of Rosy
A Mother’s Story Of Separation At The Border
Rosayra Pablo Cruz, Julie Schwietert Collazo
From a mother whose children were taken from her at the U.S. border by the American government in 2018 and another mother who helped reunite the family, a crucial, searing story about the immigration odyssey, family separation and reunification, and thepower of individuals to band together to overcome even the most cruel and unjust circumstances.
The Man Who Could Move Clouds
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Interweaving spellbinding family stories, resurrected Colombian history and her own deeply personal reckonings with the bounds of reality, the author shares her inheritance of “the secrets”–the power to talk to the dead, tell the future, treat the sick and move the clouds.
Ordinary Girls
Jaquira Díaz
Jaquira Diaz writes an unflinching account of growing up as a queer biracial girl searching for home as her family splits apart and her mother struggles with mental illness and addiction. From her own struggles with depression and drug abuse to her experiences of violence to Puerto Rico’s history of colonialism, every page vibrates with music and lyricism
In The Country We Love
My Family Divided
Diane Guerrero
The star of Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin presents her personal story of the real plight of undocumented immigrants in this country.
My Broken Language
Quiara Alegría Hudes
A Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright shares her lyrical coming-of-age story against a backdrop of her devastated barrio home and the idiosyncratic, troubled and fiercely loving Puerto Rican family that inspired her literary voice.
Becoming Maria
Love, Chaos In The South Bronx
Sonia Manzano
The award-winning author of The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano and influential Hispanic-American actress best known as “Maria” on Sesame Street traces her disadvantaged childhood and dreams of becoming an actress that motivated her career.
The Far Away Brothers
Two Young Migrants And The Making Of An American Life
Lauren Markham
An urgent chronicle of contemporary immigration follows the harrowing journey of a pair of teenaged twins from El Salvador who were forced by gang violence to see safety and a better life in the United States, an endeavor marked by family estrangement, a mounting coyote debt and America’s complicated immigration policies.
Gabriel García Márquez
A Life
Gerald Martin
Describes the life and accomplishments of the Columbian novelist, from his childhood and early career to his Nobel Prize in Literature and his exploits as a political and social activist.
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
The Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress takes a look back at her life and career, from her arrival in New York at age 5 to winning an Academy Award for her role in West Side Story and beyond.
Unbreakable
My Story
Jenni Rivera
A personal memoir by the platinum Mexican-American music artist who died in a December 2012 plane crash recounts the private battles that challenged her successes, covering such topics as her endurance of domestic abuse, struggles to raise five children and resolve to connect with fans.
The Closer
My Story
Mariano Rivera
The 19-year veteran pitcher for the New York Yankees describes his life, discussing the difficulties in being a Latino baseball player in the U.S., how he keeps his Christian values in professional sports and his championships and rivalries.
Crying In The Bathroom
Erika L Sánchez
The New York Times best-selling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter returns with an and honest and often hilarious memoir-in-essays that looks back on her wild youth and journey to becoming an award-winning novelist, poet and essayist.
When I Was Puerto Rican
Esmeralda Santiago
Magic, sexual tension, high comedy, and intense drama move through an enchanted yet harsh autobiography, in the story of a young girl who leaves rural Puerto Rico for New York’s tenements and a chance for success.
My Beloved World
Sonia Sotomayor
The first Hispanic American on the U.S. Supreme Court shares the story of her life before becoming a judge, describing her youth in a Bronx housing project, the ambition that fueled her ivy league education, and the individuals who helped shape her career.
Trejo
My Life Of Crime, Redemption, And Hollywood
Danny Trejo
For the first time, the full, fascinating, and inspirational true story of Danny Trejo’s journey from crime, prison, addiction, and loss to unexpected fame as Hollywood’s favorite bad guy with a heart of gold.
In The Shadow Of The Mountain
A Memoir Of Courage
Silvia Vasquez-Lavado
A Latinx powerhouse in the tech world of Silicon Valley returns home to Peru and turns her life around by climbing the world’s highest peaks along with other victims of childhood trauma.
Why Didn’t You Tell Me?
Carmen Rita Wong
When her immigrant mother’s long-held secrets are revealed, bring clarity to so much of her life, the author, after her mother passes away, searches to understand who she really is, in this story of race and culture in America and how they shape who we think we are.
Solito
Javier Zamora
A young poet reflects on his 3,000-mile journey from El Salvador to the United States when he was nine years old, during which he was faced with perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions during two life-altering months alongside a group of strangers who became an unexpected family.
Non-Fiction
Turn Right At Machu Picchu
Rediscovering The Lost City One Step At A Time
Mark Adams
Traces the author’s recreation of Hiram Bingham III’s discovery of an ancient Andes Mountains cloud city, describing the author’s struggles with rudimentary survival tools and his experiences at the sides of local guides.
We Fed An Island
The True Story Of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal At A Time
José Andrés
The founder of World Central Kitchen describes how his culinary network challenged broken government systems while feeding tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans who lost their homes and livelihoods to Hurricane Maria.
Gringo
A Coming-Of-Age In Latin America
Chesa Boudin
Traces the experiences of a son of Weather Underground leaders Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, a young man who endeavored to test his parents’ political theories in Latin America as he traveled around for eight years.
Postcolonial Love Poem
Natalie Diaz
Postcolonial Love Poem is an anthem of desire against erasure. Natalie Diaz’s brilliant second collection demands that every body carried in its pages–bodies of language, land, rivers, suffering brothers, enemies, and lovers–be touched and held as beloveds. Through these poems, the wounds inflicted by America onto an indigenous people are allowed to bloom pleasure and tenderness.
The Oxford Book Of Latin American Short Stories
Roberto González Echevarría
Covering the entire history of Latin American short fiction, from the Colonial period to the present, an annotated anthology of fifty-three stories includes selections from internationally known authors as well as those little known to English-speakers.
Cuba
An American History
Ada Ferrer
A Professor of History and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University provides an epic history of Cuba from before Columbus arrived to modern times and discusses its complex relationship with the United States.
Life, Death In The Andes
On The Trail Of Bandits, Heroes, And Revolutionaries
Kim MacQuarrie
Shares historical and cultural insights into the lives of notable characters associated with South America’s mountain spine, including Charles Darwin, Pablo Escobar, and Che Guevara.
Enrique’s Journey
Sonia Nazario
Describes one Honduran boy’s difficult and dangerous journey to find his mother, who had made the trek northward to the United States in search of a better life but never made enough money to return home for her children.
The Lost City Of The Monkey God
A True Story
Douglas Preston
Recounts how the author and a team of scientists discovered a legendary sacred city, the Lost City of the Monkey God, hidden deep in the Honduran jungle.
The Mexican Slow Cooker
Recipes For Mole, Enchiladas, Carnitas, Chile Verde Pork, And More Favorites
Deborah Schneider
A collection of 55 recipes by an award-winning Mexican cooking authority demonstrates how to use slow cooker methods to dramatically enhance authentic Mexican flavors, providing such options as Tortilla Soup, Barbacoa Beef and Mole Negro.
Coffeeland
One Man’s Dark Empire, The Making Of Our Favorite Drug
Augustine Sedgewick
A Harvard-educated economist documents the epic history of the role of coffee in connecting and dividing the modern world, tracing coffee’s unexpected 500-year evolution from an ingredient in a mysterious Muslim ritual to a major influencer in modern El Salvador.
The White Rock
An Exploration Of The Inca Heartland
Hugh Thomson
The documentary traveler traces his rediscovery of the Llactapata ruin and what he learned about Incan civilization from his explorations there and through his research with local archaeologists.
Fresh Mexico
100 Simple Recipes For True Mexican Flavor
Marcela Valladolid
Dedicated to traditional Mexican foods using easy-to-find ingredients and simple cooking techniques, this cookbook includes over one hundred recipes including cream of avocado soup with lobster and Mango, Oaxaca-style short ribs, and fresh guava layer cake.
The Undocumented Americans
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
An Ivy League-educated DACA beneficiary reveals the hidden lives of her fellow undocumented Americans, from the volunteers recruited for the 9/11 Ground Zero cleanup to the homeopathy botanicas of Miami that provide limited health care to non-citizens.