In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and Banned Books Week, I wanted to highlight the terrific work of Elizabeth Acevedo who composes important works for young people as both mirrors and windows. In Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acevedo delivers another winning young adult novel exploring the complicated nature of having a father who has a family in his native Dominican Republic as well as his new home in New York. His two daughters knew nothing of each other until he dies in a plane crash traveling from one to the other. Dealing with both grief from losing him, and disillusionment over his lies, the two teen girls have to decide how to handle their new found family. 

Hannah Sawyerr’s debut novel will not only pull at your heart; the novel also made me want to cheer. Her 16 year old protagonist Amina Conteh endures great suffering, but fights to keep true to herself. Amina, easy to like, reflects an easygoing maturity that makes her a natural leader. 

Ruta Septys’ award winning story focuses on a young Romanian, Cristian, in the 1989 before the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. Forced by his Communist government to become an informant on his family and friends, Cristian seeks ways to rebel against the oppressive regime. 

In this atypical love story between a neurodivergent girl and a young man struggling with addiction, this young couple is incredibly relatable in their abnormality. With parental pressure as they go towards graduation, they must confront their own struggles as well as decide whether they want to be I each other’s lives.