Two more books for Hispanic Heritage Month

Twice a Quinceañera ~ by Yamile Saied Méndez, 2022, romantic comedy, 330 pages

One month short of her wedding day — and her thirtieth birthday — Nadia Palacio finds herself standing up to her infuriating, cheating fiancé for the first time ever.  But that same courage doesn’t translate to breaking the news to her Argentinian family.  She’s hyperventilating before facing them when she glimpses a magazine piece about a Latina woman celebrating herself — with a second quinceañera, aka Sweet 15.  And that gives Nadia a brilliant idea.  With a wedding venue already paid for, and family from all over the world with plane tickets, Nadia is determined to create her own happily-ever-after.  The math adds up perfectly.  As the first professional in her family, raising a glass to her achievements is the best plan she’s had in years.  And then she discovers that the man in charge of the venue is none other than her college fling.

Woman of Light ~ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, 2022, fiction, 336 pages

Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, is left to fend for herself after her older brother, Diego, a snake charmer and factory worker, is run out of town by a violent white mob.  As Luz navigates 1930s Denver, she begins to have visions that transport her to her Indigenous homeland in the nearby Lost Territory.  Luz recollects her ancestors’ origins, how her family flourished, and how they were threatened.  She bears witness to the sinister forces that have devastated her people and their homelands for generations.  In the end, it is up to Luz to save her family stories from disappearing into oblivion.  The complex lives of the Lopez family fill the pages of this novel about survival, family secrets, and love.

Here in the United States, as I told you recently, it’s National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs annually from September 15 through October 15.  These are two more books I plan to read for this event.  Click here for another long list of books I found.

National Hispanic Heritage Month

In the United States, National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15th and lasts until October 15th.  During this month-long observance, we take time to honor the contributions, history, and culture of Americans whose ancestors are from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.  One way to celebrate is to read some books by Latine and Hispanic authors and illustrators.  Here are a few I plan to read from this list:

My Name Is Maria Isabel ~ by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by K. Dyble Thompson, translated by Ana M. Cerro, 1993, children's fiction, 64 pages, 10/10

For María Isabel Salazar López, the hardest thing about being the new girl in school is that the teacher doesn't call her by her real name.  "We already have two Marías in this class," says her teacher.  "Why don't we call you Mary instead?"  But María Isabel has been named for her Papá's mother and for Chabela, her beloved Puerto Rican grandmother.  Can she find a way to make her teacher see that if she loses her name, she's lost the most important part of herself?

Xochitl and the Flowers ~ by Jorge Argueta, illustrated by Carl Angel, 2003, children's, 32 pages, 8/10

When Xochitl’s family moves from El Salvador to the United States, she misses the garden and flower shop they left behind.  But as they start to grow and sell flowers in their new neighborhood, Xochitl and her family find a real sense of community and home in San Francisco by creating a beautiful plant nursery in place of the garbage heap behind their apartment.  This book is multicultural, with English on the left page and Spanish on the right.  The illustrations span both pages.

Tomás and the Library Lady ~ by Pat Mora, illustrated by Raul Colón, 1997, children's (Texas and Iowa), 40 pages, 9/10

Tomás, a son of migrant workers, loves the stories his grandfather tells.  Then, his grandfather introduces him to the library, where the “library lady” shows him a whole world of even more stories.  A true story of Mexican-American author and educator Tomás Rivera.  While helping his family in their work as migrant laborers far from their home, Tomas finds an entire world to explore in the books at the local public library.

National Hispanic Heritage Month ~ two more books

Breathe and Count Back from Ten ~ by Natalia Sylvester, 2022, fiction (Florida), 346 pages

Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability.  The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.  Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks, and Verónica wants to audition.  But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it.  And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.  She decides it's time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her — the truth about her own body.

Waiting for the Biblioburro ~ by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra, 2011, children's (Columbia), 32 pages

Ana, who loves stories, is thrilled when a traveling library comes to her village.  This book is based on the true story of Luis Soriano’s work establishing the Biblioburro program for kids in rural Colombia.

(These are two more books I put on reserve at my library for National Hispanic Heritage Month (click this link) that I recently told you about.