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Teen and YA Books that Celebrate Hispanic and Latine Heritage

Books that have Hispanic or Latine teen main characters.

Realistic Fiction

Cover of High Spirits
Camille
Gomera-Tavarez

A collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora and centered on one extended family, the Beléns, across multiple generations.

Cover of I Am Not Alone
Francisco X.
Stork

Alberto is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, living in New York City, and is now suspected of a terrible crime; his friend Grace is a top student with every advantage, and she is determined to prove Alberto's innocence.

Cover of Shut Up, This Is Serious
Carolina
Ixta

Two Latina teens growing up in East Oakland discover that the world is brimming with messy complexities. This a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.

Cover of Wild Dreamers
Margarita
Engle

Told in alternating voices, determined to make a difference and heal from their troubled pasts, teens Ana and Leandro fight to protect California wildlife and the endangered puma.

Cover of Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kic
Meg
Medina
Mel Valentine Vargas

It's the beginning of sophomore year, and Piedad "Piddy" Sanchez is having a hard time adjusting to her new high school. Things don't get any easier when Piddy learns that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn't even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she's done to piss her off. When the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang takes over Piddy's life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off from those who care about her or running away?

 

Fantasy

Cover of Last Sunrise in Eterna
Amparo
Ortiz

Three teenagers are invited to spend seven days on the secluded island floating off the coast of Puerto Rico to learn the magic of the elves. All they have to do is give up their dreams.

Cover of Lucha of the Night Forest
Tehlor Kay
Mejia

An edge-of-your-seat fantasy about a girl who will do anything to protect her sister--even if it means striking a dangerous bargain. Dark forces, forgotten magic, and a heart-stopping queer romance make this a must-read.

Cover of Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes o
Sandra
Proudman (editor)

These sixteen stories by award-winning and bestselling YA authors center a Latinx point of view in an empowering anthology that reimagines classics through fantasy, science fiction, and with a dash of magic.

Cover of What the River Knows (Secr
Isabel
Ibañez

Set in 1884, nineteen-year-old Inez travels to Egypt after the sudden death of her parents to uncover the truth about their deaths, and as she attempts to unravel the mysteries her parents sought, she becomes a pawn in a larger game that threatens to kill her.

 

Paranormal Fiction

Cover of Before the Devil Knows You
Autumn
Krause

In 1836 Wisconsin, Catalina's determination to keep her family alive is tested when a bark-covered man abducts her brother, prompting her to delve into a world of strange beasts and tormented spirits as she uncovers the deep-rooted connection between her fate and the Man of Sap.

Cover of Flawless Girls
Anna-Marie
McLemore

The Soler sisters are sent to the Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites. Younger sister Isla is back home within a day. She refuses to become one of the eerily sweet Alarie girls. Older sister Renata stays. When she returns months later, she's unfailingly pleasant, unnervingly polite, and, Isla discovers, possibly murderous. And the same night she returns home, she vanishes. Isla re-enrolls, intent on finding out what happened to her sister. But the Alarie House is as exacting as it is opulent. It won't give up its secrets easily.

Cover of The Hills of Estrella Roja
Ashley Robin
Franklin

In this delightfully creepy and unapologetically queer horror romp of a graphic novel, sometimes dreams do come true. Nightmares are technically dreams, after all.m When college freshman Kat Fields receives a mysterious email urging her to visit a relatively unknown Texas town with a history of witchcraft, strange sightings, and "devil lights”, she ditches her plans for spring break and takes a solo road trip to Estrella Roja to investigate for her podcast, Paranormal Texas.

Cover of Infested
Angel Luis
Colón

In a race against time, seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Manny must rescue his family from a malevolent spirit targeting his apartment building in the Bronx.

Cover of Saint Juniper's Folly
Alex
Crespo

Three teenagers face their demons to forge a bond strong enough to escape a haunted house and its ghosts. Alex Crespo’s queer haunted house mystery is equal parts spine-tingling thrills, a celebration of found family, and must-read for paranormal romance fans.

Cover of Summer of the Mariposas
Guadalupe García
McCall

In an adventure reminiscent of Homer's Odyssey, fifteen-year-old Odilia and her four younger sisters embark on a journey to return a dead man to his family in Mexico, aided by La Llorona, but impeded by a witch, a warlock, chupacabras, and more.

 

Romance

Cover of Canto Contigo
Jonny
Garza Villa

When Mariachi star Rafael Alvarez moves to a new school, he anticipates claiming the lead vocalist role, but instead faces a rival with a familiar face as he navigates family issues, competition, and complicated feelings for his rival.

Cover of Caught in a Bad Fauxmance
Elle
Rose Gonzalez

A fresh, fun contemporary rom-com about an aspiring artist who agrees to fake date one of his family's longtime enemies in the hopes of gathering intel good enough to take down their rivals once and for all.

Cover of Crashing Into You
Rocky
Callen

Seventeen-year-old Leti Rivera's love of street racing is put to the test when tragedy strikes her family and threatens to tear her apart from the boy she is falling for.

Cover of The Fall of Whit Rivera
Crystal
Maldonado

Frenemies Whit and Zay have been at odds for years (ever since he broke up with her in, like, the most embarrassing way imaginable), so when they're forced to organize the fall formal together, it's a literal disaster.

Cover of Sinner’s Isle
Angela
Montoya

A spellbinding romantic fantasy about a powerful witch who will do anything to escape the remote island she's being held captive on, including blackmail a notorious, charming pirate who washes up on shore.

 

Science Fiction

Cover of The Memory Index
Julian Ray
Vaca

In an alternative 1987, a disease ravages human memories. There is no cure, only artificial recall. The lucky ones--the recollectors--need the treatment only once a day. Freya Izquierdo isn't lucky. The high school senior is a "degen" who needs artificial recall several times a day. A school dean selects her to attend his Foxtail Academy, where five hundred students will trial a new tech said to make artificial recall obsolete.

Cover of Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tale
Zoraida
Córdova

In this collection of stories by acclaimed young adult authors, the Latin American diaspora travels to places of fantasy and out into space.

Cover of Spin Me Right Round
David
Valdes

A sharp and funny novel that's Back to the Future with a twist, as a gay teen travels back to his parents' era to save a closeted classmate's life.

Cover of We Light Up the Sky
Lilliam
Rivera

Three Latinx teenagers struggle to deal with encounters with an alien, and try to warn the world of the possibility of an alien invasion.

 

Historical Fiction

Cover of A Bridge Home
Mona
Alavarado Frazier

A Bridge Home introduces teens to the struggles of women and Mexican Americans for equal rights in the 1970s. This appealing novel deals with death and grief, relationships among family and friends and the importance of believing in your community and yourself.

Cover of Brownstone
Samuel
Teer
Mar Julia

In the summer of 1995, almost-fifteen-year-old Almudena is sent to live with her estranged Spanish-speaking father, and together they renovate a brownstone and build a relationship while Almudena navigates the Latin American side of her heritage for the first time.

Cover of Out of Darkness
Ashley Hope
Pérez

Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas, in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who's Mexican, and Wash, who's black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.

Cover of The Prince & the Coyote
David
Bowles
Amanda Mijangos

A heart-pounding historical epic that is Gladiator meets the Song of Achilles -- The Count of Monte Cristo set in pre-Columbian Mexico. Gorgeously illustrated throughout, this book brings to life one of Mexico's most treasured heroes - Nezahualcoyotl.

Cover of Valiant Ladies
Melissa
Gray

Two teen vigilantes set off on an action-packed investigation to expose corruption and deliver justice inspired by real seventeenth century Latinx teenagers.

 

Non-Fiction

Cover of ¡Ay, Mija! (a Graphic Nov
Christine
Suggs

In this memoir, Christine Suggs explores a trip they took to Mexico to visit family, as Christine embraces and rebels against their heritage and finds a sense of belonging.

Cover of Hurdles in the Dark: My St
Elvira K.
Gonzalez

A YA memoir about survival and strength by Elvira Gonzalez, a Mexican-American track star who found freedom from poverty and violence by training to become one of the top athletes in the U.S.

Cover of Men of the 65th: The Borin
Talia
Aikens-Nuñez

Learn about Puerto Rico's 65th Regiment, one of the US Army's most decorated regiments. Author Talia Aikens-Nuänez shares the history of these soldiers and the discrimination they faced as they served their country during the largest court martial of the Korean War.

Cover of Just Another Story: A Grap
Ernesto
Saade

When Carlos was nineteen years old, his mother decided to leave her life in El Salvador for a new start in the United States. Reluctant to follow, but unwilling to let his mother go without him, Carlos joined her on the journey north. During their trip through Mexico and into the US, they experienced the risks and fears countless people from Central American countries have faced while migrating to different lands. Ten years later, Carlos shared these memories with his cousin, cartoonist Ernesto Saade. This graphic novel is the result of their conversation. It is a stirring and thoughtful graphic work that goes beyond headlines and statistics to provide a powerful individual account of immigration.

Cover of Road Home
Rex
Ogle

This final, essential chapter in Rex Ogle's memoir trilogy recounts being forced from his home and living on the streets after his father discovered he was gay. The first two books, Free Lunch and Punching Bag.