From September 15 to October 15, we honor the history, diversity, and talent of the Hispanic and Latinx American communities. You can use this collection to choose texts that explore the literary contributions of Latinx and Hispanic authors.
Publication year 2022
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Language, Society: Immigration, Identity: Race
Tags Realistic Fiction, Race / Racism, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: The Past, Society: Colonialism
Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Spanish Literature, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: World, Romance
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Grandparents, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mental Illness
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Gender / Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, American Literature
Publication year 1976
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Latin American Literature, Education, Education, LGBTQ, Classic Fiction
In Manuel Puig’s 1978 novel Kiss of the Spider Woman, Luis Alberto Molina, a window dresser, and Valentin Arregui Paz, a Marxist revolutionary, are roommates in a Buenos Aires prison from September to October 1975. Puig uses dialogue, prison reports, and stream-of-consciousness to tell the story, exploring themes of The Fluidity of Gender and Orientation, The Meaning and Value of Liberation, and The Power of Language. The novel is also notable for its use of... Read Kiss of the Spider Woman Summary
Publication year 1945
Genre Play, Fiction
The House of Bernarda Alba: a drama about women in the villages of Spain, or La casa de Bernarda Alba, is a play by Spanish poet, dramatist, and director, Federico García Lorca, that explores themes of sexual repression, inheritance, and violence among three generations of women in rural Spain. The play was Lorca’s last, completed in 1936 only months before his murder at the hands of right-wing nationalist forces at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil... Read La Casa De Bernarda Alba Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Race, Self Discovery, Society: Immigration, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Latin American Literature, Jewish Literature, Race / Racism, Holocaust, Children's Literature, Military / War, History: World
Publication year 1636
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge
Tags Classic Fiction
La vida es sueño, or, Life’s a Dream, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, is one of Spain’s most well-known plays. First published and first produced in 1636, during the heyday of Spain’s golden age of literature, Life is a Dream is a play in verse that intertwines a complex family drama with a tale of honor and vengeance. The play begins with a dramatic moment, as Rossaura and her servant, Bugle, happen upon a roughly-built... Read Life Is a Dream Summary
Publication year 1989
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Food, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Marriage, Self Discovery, Society: War
Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Food, Gender / Feminism, Love / Sexuality, Fantasy, Classic Fiction
Like Water for Chocolate is the debut novel of Laura Esquivel, published in Mexico in 1989 and then translated into English by Carol and Thomas Christensen. Esquivel has sold over four million copies of the novel worldwide. She is a novelist and active politician serving in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. She collaborated with her husband at the time to adapt the novel into a film in 1992, which was then nominated for a Golden... Read Like Water for Chocolate Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Gender
Tags Crime / Legal, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, Grief / Death, Latin American Literature
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Language, Society: Immigration, Relationships: Family
Tags Action / Adventure, Immigration / Refugee, Latin American Literature, History: U.S., Modern Classic Fiction, Travel Literature
Lost Children Archive is the first English-language novel by Mexican author Valeria Luiselli. Published in 2019, Lost Children Archive was awarded the 2020 Rathbones Folio Prize and was shortlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2019 Booker Prize. The novel illustrates the intersections and overlaps between a troubled family’s cross-country journey and the treacherous journeys of “lost” children migrating from Mexico to the United States.Lost Children Archive is also an archive in... Read Lost Children Archive Summary
Publication year 1985
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Classic Fiction, Romance, Post Modernism, Latin American Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
Love in the Time of Cholera is a classic work of literary fiction by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. It was published in Spanish in 1985 and translated into English in 1988 by Edith Grossman. The novel was adapted into a film in 2007, which was nominated for several awards including an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Plot SummaryLove in the Time of Cholera is set in... Read Love in the Time of Cholera Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Relationships: Family
Tags Romance, New Adult
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Immigration / Refugee, Disability, Arts / Culture, American Literature, Children's Literature, Jewish Literature, Realistic Fiction, History: World
Lucky Broken Girl is a middle-grade historical novel by Ruth Behar. Main character Ruthie Mizrahi, an immigrant from Cuba, lives with her parents and brother in 1966 Queens. Together they try to quell their homesickness for Cuba while seeking new opportunities in America. When a car accident injures Ruthie, she becomes bedridden in a full body cast for over a year; during that time, challenges and fears she never anticipated give her a new perspective... Read Lucky Broken Girl Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Realistic Fiction, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction
Lizet Ramirez comes home to Miami for Thanksgiving during her freshman year of college to find her family turned upside down: Her parents are divorced, her Papi has sold her childhood home in Hialeah, and her Mami, her sister Leidy, and her infant nephew Dante have moved into an apartment in Little Havana. Lizet feels isolated from her home community since leaving for college; no one understands her desire to leave southern Florida, and she... Read Make Your Home Among Strangers Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Family
Tags Fantasy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Arts / Culture, Grief / Death, Education, Relationships, American Literature, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism, Action / Adventure
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Siblings, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Identity: Disability, Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Arts / Culture
Publication year 1878
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Classic Fiction
Teodoro Golfín, a renowned eye surgeon, has just arrived at the fictional town of Villamojada in Northern Spain in search of the mines of Socrates. At the request of the wealthy Francisco Penáguilas, Teodoro has come to attempt to cure his son, Pablo, of his blindness. On his way to the mines, Teodoro gets lost. He is aided by the arrival of Pablo, who offers to lead Teodoro to the mines where the doctor can... Read Marianela Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Action / Adventure, Arts / Culture
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Society: Colonialism
Tags Gothic Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World
Book Details & Major ThemesMexican Gothic is a horror novel by Mexican Canadian writer Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Set in 1950s Mexico City and the burned-out mining town of El Triunfo, the novel is a horror-tinged thriller that explores the themes of The Feminist Gothic, Colonialism and Imperialism in Mexico, and Death, Corruption and Objectification in the House of Doyle.The novel centers on Noemí Taboada, a socialite with aspirations to become an anthropologist who goes to El... Read Mexican Gothic Summary