YA Books To Read for Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month

Bad at Love

By Gabriela Martins

"An open-hearted exploration of loneliness and love against the backdrop of the vibrant L.A. music scene."—Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys

This fun and flirty romance follows a teen rocker with a bad boy reputation and the aspiring journalist who’s determined to dig up the d...

Before We Were Free

By Julia Alvarez

PURE BELPRÉ AWARD WINNER • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME • AN ALA-YALSA BEST BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS

From renowned author Julia Alvarez comes an unforgettable story about adolescence, perseverance, and one girl’s struggle to be free while living in the Dominican Republic under...

Cuba 15

By Nancy Osa

For fans of Matt de la Peña and Sandra Cisneros comes a novel about family and identity, where Violet Paz prepares for her quinceañero and learns about her Cuban heritage.

Violet Paz has just turned fifteen, a pivotal birthday in the eyes of her Cuban grandmother. Fifteen is the age when a girl enter...

Does My Body Offend You?

By Mayra Cuevas, Marie Marquardt

A timely story of two teenagers who discover the power of friendship, feminism, and standing up for what you believe in, no matter where you come from. A collaboration between two gifted authors writing from alternating perspectives, this compelling novel shines with authenticity, courage, and humor.

Malena Rosario is starting ...

Enrique's Journey (The Young Adult Adaptation)

By Sonia Nazario

Adapted for young people, this edition of Enrique’s Journey is written by Sonia Nazario and based on the adult book of the same name. It is the true story of Enrique, a teenager from Honduras, who sets out on a journey, braving hardship and peril, to find his mother, who had no choice but to leave him when he was a chi...

Finding Miracles

By Julia Alvarez

A new paperback edition of Julia Alvarez’s beloved story about family, identity, and first love.

Milly Kaufman is an ordinary American teenager living in Vermont—and then she meets Pablo, a new student at her high school. His exotic accent, strange fashion sense, and intense interest in Milly force her to co...

The Go-Between

By Veronica Chambers

Fans of Jane the Virgin will find much to love about The Go-Between, a coming-of-age novel from bestselling author Veronica Chambers, who with humor and humanity explores issues of identity and belonging in a world that is ever-changing.

She is the envy of every teenage girl in Mexico City. Her mother is a glamo...

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

By Erika L. Sánchez

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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.

“Alive and crackling—a gritty tale wrapped in a pa...

I Will Save You

By Matt de la Peña

Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña’s I Will Save You is a "heartwarming, root-for-the-underdog novel." [SLJ]

Kidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but the...

It's All Love

By Jenna Ortega

An empowering collection written by Jenna Ortega, the award-winning actress starring in the hit Netflix series WEDNESDAY. These deeply personal stories and quotes are accompanied by beautiful illustrations that explore Jenna's struggles with depression, experiences falling in—and out of—love, the loss of close fam...

Like a Love Song

By Gabriela Martins

This debut paperback original romance follows a Latina teen pop star whose image takes a dive after a messy public breakup, until she's set up with a swoon-worthy fake boyfriend.

Fake boyfriend. Real heartbreak?

Natalie is living her dream: topping the charts and setting records as a Brazilian pop star... until she...

The Living

By Matt de la Peña

Newbery Award-winning author Matt de la Peña's The Living is "a rare thing: a plot-driven YA with characters worthy of a John Green novel.” [Entertainment Weekly, A-]

Shy takes the summer job to make some money. A few months on a luxury cruise liner--how bad can it be? Bikinis, fre...

Mexican WhiteBoy

By Matt de la Peña

Newbery Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Peña's Mexican WhiteBoy is a story of friendship, acceptance, and the struggle to find your identity in a world of definitions.

Danny is tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so f...

On Top of Glass

By Karina Manta

An insightful memoir from a figure skating champion about her life as a bisexual professional athlete, perfect for readers of Fierce by Aly Raisman and Forward by Abby Wambach.

Karina Manta has had a busy few years: Not only did she capture the hearts of many with her fan-favorite performance at the U.S. Figure...

Small Town Monsters

By Diana Rodriguez Wallach

The Conjuring meets The Vow! This is the terrifying story of a girl, a dark angel, and the cult hellbent on taking over her small, coastal town.

Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innat...

Suncatcher

By Jose Pimienta

Filled with music, passion, supernatural secrets, and family, Jose Pimienta's Suncatcher brings to life a contemporary story of a girl growng up in Mexicali, with a supernatural twist and a lot of music.

Beatriz loves music.

More than her school -- more than her friends -- and definitely more than her homework. After Be...

The Tequila Worm

By Viola Canales

Sofia comes from a family of storytellers. Here are her tales of growing up in the barrio, full of the magic and mystery of family traditions: making Easter cascarones, celebrating el Dia de los Muertos, preparing for quincea–era, rejoicing in the Christmas nacimiento, and curing homesickness by eating the tequila ...

The Turning Pointe

By Vanessa L. Torres

A bold and emotionally gripping novel about a teenage Latinx girl finding freedom through dance and breaking expectations in 1980s Minnesota.

When sixteen-year-old Rosa Dominguez pirouettes, she is poetry in pointe shoes. And as the daughter of a tyrant ballet Master, Rosa seems destined to become the star principal dancer of her stu...

We Were Here

By Matt de la Peña

Newbery Award-winning author Matt de la Peña's We Were Here is a "fast, funny, smart, and heartbreaking" novel [Booklist].

When it happened, Miguel was sent to Juvi. The judge gave him a year in a group home—said he had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how he thi...

Antes de ser libres

By Julia Alvarez

Anita de la Torre nunca cuestionó su libertad viviendo en la República Dominicana. Pero al cumplir doce años de edad en 1960, la mayoría de sus familiares han emigrado a Estados Unidos, su tío Toni ha desaparecido sin dejar rastro y la policía secreta del gobierno aterroriza a su familia restante dada su pr...

En busca de milagros

By Julia Alvarez

MILLY KAUFMAN ES una adolescente estadounidense común y corriente que vive en el estado de Vermont hasta que un estudiante nuevo llamado Pablo llega a su escuela secundaria. Su acento exótico, su extraño sentido de la moda y el interés intenso que Milly despierta en él hacen que ella enfrente su identidad de ni&nt...

La Travesía de Enrique

By Sonia Nazario

“Un relato conmovedor que le da un rostro humano a los indocumentados, tan bello como marcado de cicatrices. Imprescindible”.—Kirkus Reviews, reseña destacada.

Basada en el libro homónimo para adultos, La Travesía de Enrique de Sonia Nazario está disponible en su versió...

Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month with Underlined: Celebrate and uplift estos libros from Latinx creators!

Bad at Love

By Gabriela Martins

Before We Were Free

By Julia Alvarez

Cuba 15

By Nancy Osa

Does My Body Offend You?

By Mayra Cuevas, Marie Marquardt

Enrique's Journey (The Young Adult Adaptation)

By Sonia Nazario

Finding Miracles

By Julia Alvarez

The Go-Between

By Veronica Chambers

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

By Erika L. Sánchez

I Will Save You

By Matt de la Peña

It's All Love

By Jenna Ortega

Like a Love Song

By Gabriela Martins

The Living

By Matt de la Peña

Mexican WhiteBoy

By Matt de la Peña

On Top of Glass

By Karina Manta

Small Town Monsters

By Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Suncatcher

By Jose Pimienta

The Tequila Worm

By Viola Canales

The Turning Pointe

By Vanessa L. Torres

We Were Here

By Matt de la Peña

Spanish Editions

Antes de ser libres

By Julia Alvarez

En busca de milagros

By Julia Alvarez

La Travesía de Enrique

By Sonia Nazario

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