Latinx
Clap When You Land
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Description: Clap When You Land is a verse novel told through alternating perspectives of two Afro-Latina girls. One lives in the Dominican Republic and the other in New York. When the two find out that their father died in a plane crash, they must learn about each other and the truth about their father.
Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #dominican #versenovel #dualperespective #LGBTQIA #lesbian #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Acevedo, E. (2020). Clap When You Land. Quill Tree Books.
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The Poet X
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Description: The Poet X is a verse novel about an Afro-Latina girl growing up in Brooklyn as she questions her faith, struggles with her family, and learns how to share her voice as a poet.
Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #dominican #versenovel #contemporary #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Acevedo, E. (2018). The Poet X. New York: Harperteen.
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With The Fire On High
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Description: With The Fire On High is a coming of age contemporary novel about about an Afro-Latina teen mom who dreams of becoming a chef. While taking care of her baby girl and her abuela, she makes amazing meals and joins a culinary arts elective at her school. There she is mentored by the head chef who encourages her to apply for a prestigious trip abroad to apprentice under a chef in Spain. This story is full of hope and joy. It also includes a love story had has great examples of consent.
Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #dominican #teenmom #cooking #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Acevedo, E. (2019). With The Fire On High. Quill Tree Books.
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North of Happy
Author: Adi Alsaid
Description: North of Happy is a coming of age contemporary novel about about a wealthy latinx teen boy who lives in Mexico City and attends an international school. He has dual citizenship between the United States and Mexico, so when his family disregards his dreams of becoming a chef, he runs away to the United States and becomes an apprentice to a celebrity chef.
Includes: #latinx #mexican #cooking #contemporary #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Alsaid, A. (2017). North of Happy. Harlequin Teen.
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Undead Girl Gang
Author: Lily Anderson
Description: Undead Girl Gang is a story about a Latina teen who does amatur witchcraft with her best friend. When her best friend and two other girls die in a suspicious way and everyone believes that they were involved in a suicide pact, she decides to use magic to bring them back to life to solve the mystery.
Includes: #latinx #horror #comedy #zombies #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Anderson, L. (2018). Undead Girl Gang. Razorbill.
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The Other Half of Happy
Author: Rebecca Balcárcel
Description: The Other Half of Happy is a coming of age contemporary novel about a biracial white and Guatemalan 12 year old girl who learns to embrace her Guatemalan culture when her cousins come to stay with her.
Includes: #latinx #biracial #guatemalan #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Balcárcel, R. (2019). The Other Half of Happy. Chronicle.
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The Storm Runner
Author: J.C. Cervantes
Description: The Storm Runner is a coming of age contemporary novel about a Mexican-American middle school boy who learns to learns that the mountains near his New Mexico town contain a Mayan relic that is trapping an evil god. Together with a new friend from school, they go on an adventure.
Includes: #latinx #mexican #mayan #fantasy #maleprotagonist #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Cervantes, J.C. (2018). The Storm Runner. Rick Riordan Presents.
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Efrén Divided
Author: Ernesto Cisneros
Description: Efrén Divided is a coming of age contemporary novel about a Mexican-American boy who is American born, but whose parents are undocumented. His biggest fear is that his parents will be deported. When that fear becomes a reality, he must fight to reunite his family.
Includes: #latinx #mexican #undocumented #deportation #contemporary #maleprotagonist #middlegradeliterature
Citation: Cisneros, E. (2020). Efrén Divided r. Quill Tree Books.
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Labyrinth Lost
Author: Zoraida Córdova
Description: Labyrinth Lost is a fantasy novel set in contemporary Brooklyn and the fantasy underworld of Los Lagos. It is the first book in a trilogy, following the middle sister of a group of three sisters. The story follows a bisexual Latina girl who is from a family of brujas/witches. She doesn’t want her power and when she tries to banish it, she accidentally sends her family to the underworld and only she can save them.
Includes: #latinx #magic #fantasy #LGBTQIA #bisexual #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Córdova, Z. (2016). Labyrinth Lost. Sourcebooks Fire.
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Bruja Born
Author: Zoraida Córdova
Description: Bruja Born is a fantasy novel set in contemporary Brooklyn and the fantasy underworld of Los Lagos. It is the second book in a trilogy, following the oldest sister of a group of three sisters. The story follows a Latina girl who is from a family of brujas/witches. When she and her boyfriend break up and he is killed in an accident, she casts a spell to keep him alive, but the spell backfires and the city becomes overrun with zombies. She must fight to fix the mistake she has made.
Includes: #latinx #magic #fantasy #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Córdova, Z. (2018). Bruja Born. Sourcebooks Fire.
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Wayward Witch
Author: Zoraida Córdova
Description: Wayward Witch is a fantasy novel set in contemporary Brooklyn and the fantasy fairy realm of Adas in the Caribbean Sea. It is the third book in a trilogy, following the youngest sister of a group of three sisters. The story follows a latinx teen as she fights to save the fairy realm and learn more about her father’s past.
Includes: #latinx #magic #fantasy #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Córdova, Z. (2020). Wayward Witch. Sourcebooks Fire.
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Five Midnights
Author: Ann Dávila Cardinal
Description: Five Midnights is a horror novel set in Puerto Rico. It follows two Puerto Rican teens as they try to solve the mystery of murders sweeping across Puerto Rico. Is it caused by murderers or mosters?
Includes: #latinx #magic #horror #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Dávila Cardinal, A. (2019). Five Midnights. Tor Teen.
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Mexican Whiteboy
Author: Matt de la Peña
Description: Mexican Whiteboy is a contemporary novel about a biracial Latino and white teen growing up in San Diego. He attends a private school where everyone assumes they know who he really is. Everyone is shocked when they find out that he does not speak Spanish. He is convinced that his half-whiteness is why his father left his family and moved back to Mexico. This book is about finding your own identity, friendship, acceptance, and there is a little bit of baseball thrown in.
Includes: #latinx #contemporary #maleprotagonist #sports #baseball #mexican #biracial
Citation: de la Peña, M. (2008). Mexican Whiteboy. Delacorte Press.
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The Resolutions
Author: Mia Garcia
Description: The Resolutions is a contemporary novel following four latinx teens who decide that instead of making their own resolutions on New Years Eve, they will make resolutions for each other that they have to keep.
Includes: #latinx #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Garcia, M. (2018). The Resolutions. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books.
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Summer of the Mariposas
Author: Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Description: Summer of the Mariposas tells the story of four sisters as they are on an odyssey back to Mexico and includes both adventure and the supernatural. The story is a retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey.
Includes: #latinx #femaleprotagonist #magic #fantasy #magicalrealism
Citation: Garcia McCall, G. (2012). Summer of the Mariposas. Tu Books.
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Wild Beauty
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Description: Wild Beauty is a magical realism novel about a family of Latina sisters that tend to a magical garden and hide a dark secret; whoever they love vanishes. The protagonist must fight to ensure that the girl she loves does not disappear.
Includes: #lesbian #LGBTQIA #femaleprotagonist #latinx #magicalrealism #magic #fantasy
Citation: McLamore, A. (2017). Wild Beauty. Feiwel & Friends.
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When The Moon Was Ours
Author: Anna-Marie McLamore
Description: When The Moon Was Ours is a magical realist novel about two best friends, one of whom is a nonbinary character, as they fight to protect their magical secrets from a group of witches.
Includes: #nonbinary #LGBTQIA #latinx #magicalrealism #magic #fantasy
Citation: McLamore, A. (2016). When The Moon Was Ours. Thomas Dunne Books.
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Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass
Author: Meg Medina
Description: Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass is a contemporary novel following a latinx teen girl who is being bullied at school. Because her skin looks more white than her other latinx peers and because she speaks English without an accent, she is told by her bully that she isn’t latinx enough. She decides that she can show them who she is and be true to herself.
Includes: #latinx #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Medina, M. (2013). Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. Candlewick.
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We Set The Dark On Fire
Author: Taylor Kay Mejia
Description: We Set The Dark On Fire is a dystopian novel following a latinx teen girl who attends a boarding school for girls who will be married off to the elite of society. When she finds out that her wealthy lineage is a lie, she must hide the truth or be sent back in to the famine and poverty stricken fringes of society. Will she fight to hold her spot in the elite ranks of society, or fight for a more just world for all?
Includes: #latinx #dystopian #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Mejia, T.K. (2019). We Set The Dark On Fire. Tegen Books.
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We Unleash The Merciless Storm
Author: Taylor Kay Mejia
Description: We Unleash The Merciless Storm is the sequel to We Set The Dark On Fire. It is a dystopian novel following a latinx teen girl who fights as part of the resistance against an authoritarian regime that places the wealthy at the top and leaves others to parish from famine and poverty.
Includes: #latinx #dystopian #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Mejia, T.K. (2020). We Unleash The Merciless Storm. Katherine Tegen Books.
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Barely Missing Everything
Author: Matt Mendez
Description: Barely Missing Everything is a multiple perspective contemporary novel following three latinx teens. One has a dream of getting out of his small town with a baseball scholarship. Another wants to be a film maker. And the other who has to deal with an unplanned pregnancy.
Includes: #latinx #contemporary #maleprotagonist #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Mendez, M. (2019). Barely Missing Everything. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books.
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Don’t Date Rosa Santos
Author: Nina Moreno
Description: Don’t Date Rosa Santos is a contemporary novel following a latinx teen girl who is Cuban American. The story deals with three generations of women in her family as they tackle the trauma of her grandfather being lost at sea on her grandmother’s journey from Cuba to Florida. The book has the small town appeal of Gilmore Girls with the familial magic of Practical Magic.
Includes: #latinx #cuban #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Moreno, N. (2019). Don’t Date Rosa Santos. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
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Nocturna
Author: Maya Motayne
Description: Nocturna is a latinx-inspired fantasy novel that follows two teens in a fantasy world as they fight to destroy an unleashed evil that threatens to destroy their lands. Each of them has their own magic and they must work together to save Castallan.
Includes: #latinx #fantasy #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Motayne, M. (2019). Nocturna. Balzer + Bray.
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The Last *
Author: Laura Pohl
Description: The Last 8 is a science fiction novel following a Brazilian American latinx teen girl. After most of earth is destroyed during an Alien attack, she is one of the only survivors. When she hears a radio signal coming from Area 51, she learns that she isn’t the only teenager left, there are a band of other teen survivors. Can she trust them? When she finds a hidden space ship, she isn’t so sure.
Includes: #latinx #brizilian #sciencefiction #scifi #alians #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Pohl, L. (2019). The Last 8. Sourcebooks Fire.
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Shadowshaper
Author: Daniel José Older
Description: Shadowshaper is a story about art, legacy, and magic in an Afro-Latina girl’s life. It is the first book in a trilogy. The story follows her as she learns about a magic within her community that gives her the ability to be able to bind the souls of the dead to her art.
Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #femaleprotagonist #magic #fantasy
Citation: Older, D.J. (2015). Shadowshaper. Arthur A. Levine Books.
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Shadowhouse Fall
Author: Daniel José Older
Description: Shadowhouse Fall is a story about art, legacy, and magic in an Afro-Latina girl’s life. It is the second book in a trilogy. The story follows her as she learns about a magic within her community that gives her the ability to be able to bind the souls of the dead to her art.
Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #femaleprotagonist #magic #fantasy
Citation: Older, D.J. (2017). Shadowhouse Fall. Arthur A. Levine Books.
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Shadowshaper Legacy
Author: Daniel José Older
Description: Shadowshaper legacy is a story about art, legacy, and magic in an Afro-Latina girl’s life. It is the third book in a trilogy. The story follows her as she learns about a magic within her community that gives her the ability to be able to bind the souls of the dead to her art.
Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #femaleprotagonist #magic #fantasy
Citation: Older, D.J. (2020). Shadowshaper Legacy. Arthur A. Levine Books.
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Like Water
Author: Rebecca Podos
Description: Like Water is a love story about a Latina girl in New Mexico who works as a performing mermaid at a waterpark and deals with the possibility that she may have Huntington's Disease as she starts to date a girl for the first time and realizes she is bisexual.
Includes: #bisexual #LGBTQIA #latinx #interraciallove #disability #huntingtonsdisease #grief #contemporary #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Podos, R. (2017). Like Water. Blazer + Bray.
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Juliet Takes A Breath
Author: Gabby Rivera
Description: Juliet Takes A Breath is about a Latina teen who comes out to her parents and then runs away to the other side of the country to intern for a white feminist writer.
Includes: #lesbian #LGBTQIA #femaleprotagonist #latinx #privilege
Citation: Rivera, G. (2016). Juliet Takes A Breath. Riverdale Avenue Books.
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The Education of Margot Sánchez
Author: Lilliam Rivera
Description: The Education of Margot Sánchez is a coming of age story that addresses issues of gentrification and feelings of belonging in the South Bronx.
Includes: #latinx #femaleprotagonist #gentrification #contemporary
Citation: Rivera, L. (2017). The Education of Margot Sánchez. Simon & Schuster.
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Dealing In Dreams
Author: Lilliam Rivera
Description: Dealing In Dreams is a dystopian novel following a latinx teen girl who runs an all girl gang in the capital city. Her dream is to move in to the elite towers in the city but she must battle other gangs to meet this goal.
Includes: #latinx #dystopian #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Rivera, L. (2019). Dealing In Dreams. Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers.
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All of Us With Wings
Author: Michelle Ruiz Keil
Description: All of Us With WIngs is a magical realism novel following an LGBTQIA latinx teen. After escaping her past, she moves in with a 12 year old and her rock-star family as a live in governess. After a concert, she and the 12 year old accidentally summon a pair of ancient creatures determined to avenge the wrongs of her past.
Includes: #latinx #magicalrealism #LGBTQIA #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Ruiz Keil, M. (2019). All of Us With Wings. Soho Press.
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Description: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the story of two Mexican American boys and their struggles with racial and ethnic identity, sexuality, and family.
Includes: #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #latinx #contemporary #rural
Citation: Sáenz, A. ( 2012). Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers.
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The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Description: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is a novel about a Mexican American teen who has grown up with his adoptive gay father in a Mexican American family. This story follows him as he and his best friend dig into their own histories and deal with grief and loss.
Includes: #latinx #mexican #LGBTQIA #gay #contemporary #maleprotagonist
Citation: Sáenz, B. A. (2017). The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. Clarion Books.
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Author: Erika L. Sánchez
Description: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is about a Latina teen girl dealing with familial expectations, grief, and becoming herself.
Includes: #latinx #mexican #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #grief
Citation: Sánchez, E.L. (2017). I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
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History Is All You Left Me
Author: Adam Silvera
Description: History Is All You Left Me is about a gay teen’s grief, mental health, letting go of his past, and the rebuilding of his new future.
Includes: #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #mentalhealth #grief #suicide
Citation: Silvera, A. (2017). History Is All You Left Me. Soho Teen.
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They Both Die At The End
Author: Adam Silvera
Description: They Both Die at the End is an adventure story about two strangers who are Cuban, Puerto Rican, bisexual, and gay, and who connect over the fact that they were both told that they will die today.
Includes: #bisexual #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #dystopian #latinx
Citation: Silvera, A. (2017). They Both Die at the End. HarperTeen.
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What If It’s Us
Author: Adam Silvera & Becky Albertalli
Description: What If It’s Us is a contemporary love story told through alternating perspectives. It follows two teens, one who is Latinx and one who is white, as they spend a summer falling in love.
Includes: #latinx #LGBTQIA #gay #maleprotagonist #contemporary #interraciallove
Citation: Silvera, A. & Albertalli, B. (2018). What If It’s Us. HarperTeen.
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Cemetery Boys
Author: Aiden Thomas
Description: Cemetery Boys is a contemporary coming of age novel with a Latinx trans boy main character. When the novel’s protagonist is shunned by his family for his gender identity, he is determined to show them that he is a true brujo, witch. The protagonist performs a spell to solve the mystery of a family member’s death, but accidentally resurrects the ghost of his former classmate, school’s former tough guy, who hopes to tie up loose ends of his own. As they work together, the two grow closer and the protagonist is not sure if he wants the boy’s ghost to leave.
Includes: #transprotagonist #nonbinary #bodypolitics #LGBTQIA #youngadultliterature #contemporary
Citation: Thomas, A. (2020). Cemetery boys. Swoon Reads.
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