National Hispanic Heritage Month
Check out just a few of the GOOD READS we have waiting for you! Find more on Destiny.
The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel
Living in the United States with an American mom and a Guatemalan dad, Quijana is a girl stuck in the middle, being pulled in different directions. When her cousins who recently moved to town and her Latina classmates judge her for not knowing Spanish, and suddenly her dad starts decorating the house with Guatemalan decor instead of their family photos, she wonders where she fits in. Follow along as Quijana navigates seventh grade at a new school, growing feelings for a friend, a shocking diagnosis for her grandmother, and figuring out what might be wrong with her toddler brother...all while trying to piece together who she is.
Kidnapped from her parents at the age of four, Rosa has been traveling with a wandering beggar for the past eight years. He makes her call him Uncle and has taken her birth name away and sold off her old clothes that her mother wove for her. A fortune-teller revealed to Uncle that Rosa would bring him luck and great treasure, but as time goes on with no treasure, Uncle’s desperation and anger grows and Rosa’s safety is at risk.
The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
You have two choices: join the Alphas and sell drugs and kill people, or refuse to join the powerful gang and be killed. What do you do? After Jaime loses his cousin Miguel to the Alphas, this is the choice he has to make. But what if there’s another option? Jaime and Miguel’s sister Angela flee their home and the only life they’ve ever known and make the perilous journey from Guatemala to the United States to live with Miguel’s older brother.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Esperanza lives a charmed life as the daughter of a successful ranch owner in Mexico in the 1930s. She spends her days picking roses and grapes, taking in the beauty of the property around her, and having every need cared for by her servants. When tragedy strikes--not once, but twice--at the hands of her uncle and his greed for power and money, Esperanza’s world is turned upside down. She and her mother flee with their servants to California to work in a Mexican farm labor camp. The real-life struggles of the Great Depression and Valley Fever are depicted in Esperanza’s story, one that will remind you to not be afraid to start over.
Mandaderos de la lluvia edited by Claudia M. Lee and illustrated by Rafael Yockteng
This wonderful collection of 64 poems offers readers both traditional and contemporary works from 19 Latin American countries, all written in Spanish. If you know Spanish, you’ll appreciate this book!
Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya
Emilia is so excited for her dad to come home from deployment. But when he returns, he’s distant and on edge. To make matters worse, her mom is on the other side of the country on a work trip, and her abuela won’t stop bothering her about her impending womanhood and preparing for her quinceanera two and a half years away. Her mind is constantly swirling with thoughts and she’s distracted easily, but when her social studies teacher assigns a tourism project about their town, she’s laser-focused...that is, until her research and a current issue in town threatens to turn everything inside out and upside down. Can Emilia repair relationships and unite the people around her on her own? Can she learn to honor all the parts of her heritage?
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
Tyler lives on a dairy farm in Vermont, where his parents are struggling to keep the farm afloat after his dad is hurt in a tractor accident. Mari has recently arrived in Vermont with her father, uncles, and sisters, where they work on Tyler’s family’s farm. Tyler wonders if the Mexican workers are undocumented, what will happen to them if they are caught, and worries that his family will be in trouble for hiring them. In this book, Tyler’s story is told by a narrator, interwoven with Mari’s story, told in her letters to her family.
Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
Marcus is the biggest kid in his school. He’s clever, helpful, and a good student. He was also born in Puerto Rico, where his dad (who he hasn’t seen in ten years) lives, but hasn’t been back there...until now. After being suspended from school for getting in a fight, his mom sends Marcus and his brother to spend a week in Puerto Rico with family he’s never met for a break and a change of scenery. While he’s there, he can’t help but want to hunt down his dad. But how do you find someone on an island when you don’t even speak the language? Read along to join Marcus on his adventures and learn some important life lessons along the way.