Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Friendship, Family, Immigration, Self Discovery
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Latin American Literature
Hispanic & Latinx American Literature
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.
Stella Díaz Has Something to Say
Strange Pilgrims
Summer in the City
Summer of the Mariposas
Taking Sides
Tell Me How It Ends
The Aleph
The American Roommate Experiment
The Angel's Game
Theatre of the Oppressed
The Autumn of the Patriarch
The Barbarian Nurseries
The Bewitching
The Book of Sand
The Book of Unknown Americans
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
The Circuit
The Circular Ruins
The Contract Says: We’d Like the Conversation to Be Bilingual
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Friendship, Family, Immigration, Self Discovery
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Latin American Literature
Publication year 1992
Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction
Themes Nostalgia, The Past, Colonialism
Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, Classic Fiction, Spanish Literature
Strange Pilgrims is a collection of 12 short stories written by acclaimed Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. García Márquez, the winner of the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, is the author of 11 novels and novellas, dozens of short stories, and various works of nonfiction and film. Strange Pilgrims was published in 1992, though most of its stories were initially written in the 1970s and 1980s. The... Read Strange Pilgrims Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Memory, Regret, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Death, Fathers, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Equality, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt
Tags Romance
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Coming of Age, Family
Tags Fantasy, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Magical Realism, Action & Adventure
A loose adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, Guadalupe Garcia McCall’s Summer of the Mariposas (2012) follows five Mexican American sisters on an epic journey from Texas to Mexico. Drawing deeply from Mexican folklore, the book’s genre blends magical realism and fantasy. The book was a 2013 Andre Norton Award Nominee, won the Westchester Fiction Award, and made the list of 2012 School Library Journal Best Books. Guadalupe Garcia McCall was born in Piedras Negras in Coahuila... Read Summer of the Mariposas Summary
Publication year 1991
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Coming of Age, Friendship
Tags Realistic Fiction, Sports, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Education, Education
Publication year 2017
Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction
Themes Politics & Government, Immigration
Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, Education, Education, World History, Politics & Government
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions is Valeria Luiselli’s 2017 book-length essay exploring the influx of undocumented child migrants from Latin America that began in 2014. Through her work as a volunteer translator, Luiselli became intimately aware of what these children experienced, and the essay argues that their inhumane treatment at the hands of American bureaucracy is an unjust denial of due process and the core principles of the American Dream... Read Tell Me How It Ends Summary
Publication year 1945
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Literature, Space, Appearance & Reality, Death
Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Latin American Literature
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Literature, Self Discovery, Love, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Mental Health
Tags Romance, Humor, New Adult, Love & Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Guilt
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Gothic Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy
The Angel's Game is a 2008 supernatural mystery novel by the Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Set in Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s, the book chronicles a young crime novelist's efforts to unravel an occult conspiracy amid the political turmoil of pre-Francoist Spain. It is the second entry in Zafón's Cemetery of Forgotten Books series and a prequel to 2001's Shadow of the Wind, but The Angel's Game is designed to be read as... Read The Angel's Game Summary
Publication year 1977
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Literature, Social Class, Politics & Government, Art, Equality, Justice
Tags Philosophy, Education, Social Justice
Publication year 1975
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Power & Greed, Death, Politics & Government, Justice
Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction
The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez debuted in Spain in 1975. The English translation published in 1976. Márquez’s most notable work, One Hundred Years of Solitude, earned him a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 and reflects his distinct magical realist style, an artistic genre first recognized in literature in predominantly Latin American writing during the 1940s. The Autumn of the Patriarch, published seven years later, also features Márquez’s magical style and... Read The Autumn of the Patriarch Summary
Publication year 2011
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family
Tags American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
The Barbarian Nurseries is a contemporary novel set in Los Angeles and other neighborhoods in Orange County. Author Héctor Tobar is a native of Los Angeles and is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and journalist, previously writing weekly columns and acting as a foreign correspondent for the LA Times. Both this novel and his previous work of fiction focus primarily on the lives of immigrants in California. The Barbarian Nurseries was a New York Times Notable... Read The Barbarian Nurseries Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Gender Identity, Indigenous Identity, Death, Animals, Place, Family, Grandparents, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Good & Evil, Power & Greed
Tags Horror & Suspense, Gothic Literature, Fantasy
Publication year 1975
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Appearance & Reality, Colonialism
Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
“The Book of Sand” by Jorge Luis Borges is a short story dealing with humankind’s inability to grasp the infinite, whether in spirituality or in physical reality. Borges is one of the most well-known Latin American authors, as well as one of the most notable postmodernists of the 20th century. Like much of Borges’s work, “The Book of Sand” contains themes and motifs of the infinite, the nature of literature, spirituality, and postcolonial thought. “The... Read The Book of Sand Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
The Book of Unknown Americans (2014) is a novel by American author Christina Henríquez. The story follows two families, one Mexican and one Panamanian, as they navigate the experience of being Latin American immigrants in the United States. The Mexican girl, Maribel, and Panamanian boy, Mayor, fall in love, which brings the families together. While mainly fictional, The Book of Unknown Americans is inspired by Henríquez’s father’s experience as a Mexican immigrant in the United... Read The Book of Unknown Americans Summary
Publication year 2007
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Masculinity, Coming of Age
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a 2007 novel by the Dominican American author Junot Díaz. Its title character is a young overweight Dominican American man obsessed with fantasy novels, superhero comics, and tabletop role-playing games. Using Spanish neologisms, magical realism, and references to late-20th-century nerd culture, Díaz weaves a multigenerational family saga chronicling life under the murderous Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and the subsequent Dominican diaspora to the United States. Widely praised... Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Memory, Regret, Shame & Pride, Mental Health, Race, Aging, Death, Family, Immigration, Literature, Religion & Spirituality, Gender Identity
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy
Publication year 1997
Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction
Themes Family, Justice, Immigration, Perseverance, Education, Childhood & Youth
Tags Historical Fiction, Poverty, Immigration & Refugeeism, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Arts & Culture
Publication year 1940
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Art, Education
Tags Fantasy, Symbolic Narrative, World History, Magical Realism, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction
Jorge Luís Borges’s short story “The Circular Ruins” was originally written in 1939 and was first published under the title “Las ruinas circulares” in the Argentinian literary journal Sur in 1940. By the time “The Circular Ruins” was finally translated into English for American audiences in 1962, Borges was on his way to international renown. In 1961, he was awarded the Prix Formentor (an elite international award), and he traveled to the US to become... Read The Circular Ruins Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Family, Community, Social Class, Literature, Fame, Justice, Equality, Power & Greed, Perseverance, Language
Tags Lyric Poem, Race & Racism, Diversity, Social Justice