Publication year 2012
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Race, Fathers, Colonialism, Immigration, Politics & Government, Equality, Justice
Tags Immigration & Refugeeism
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.
In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes
I Never Thought of It That Way
Infinite Country
In Praise of Darkness
Instructions on Not Giving Up
In the Country We Love
In the Distance
In the Dream House
In the Midst of Winter
In the Name of Salome
In the Time of the Butterflies
Into the Beautiful North
Invisible
Island Beneath the Sea
Iveliz Explains It All
Juliet Takes a Breath
Kiss of the Spider Woman
La Casa De Bernarda Alba
Leaf Storm
Letters from Cuba
Publication year 2012
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Race, Fathers, Colonialism, Immigration, Politics & Government, Equality, Justice
Tags Immigration & Refugeeism
Publication year 2022
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Conflict, Family, Politics & Government
Tags Self-Improvement, Politics & Government, Psychology, Sociology, Relationships
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Immigration, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mythology, Immigration & Refugeeism, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Relationships, American Literature, Latin American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction
Publication year 1969
Genre Poem, Fiction
Tags Lyric Poem, Latin American Literature, Magical Realism, Classic Fiction
“In Praise of Darkness” is a poem, and book, by Jorge Luis Borges. It was originally published in Spanish in 1969, late in Borges’s career—his first book of poetry, Fervor de Buenos Aires, was published in 1923. “In Praise of Darkness,” a free verse poem about Aging and Blindness, The Presence of the Past, and the speaker’s Relationship to Literature, also lists some of Borges’s literary influences, including 19th-century American Transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson... Read In Praise of Darkness Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Environment, Hope
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 2016
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Future
Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Race & Racism, Biography, Social Justice, Politics & Government
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided (2016) is a memoir by American actress Diane Guerrero (with Michelle Burford). The narrative chronicles how the US government deported Guerrero’s undocumented parents to Colombia when she was 14 years old. The title emphasizes the author’s patriotism, which she projects onto her parents and the undocumented community more broadly with the use of the plural. Guerrero writes in simple prose and organizes the material chronologically, relying on... Read In the Country We Love Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Siblings
Tags Historical Fiction, Western, Action & Adventure, Immigration & Refugeeism, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Publication year 2019
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Love, Sexual Identity, Self Discovery, Conflict
Tags LGBTQ+, Trauma & Abuse, Relationships, Love & Sexuality, Arts & Culture, Horror & Suspense, Gender & Feminism, Biography
Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir In the Dream House chronologizes her experiences in an abusive relationship with a woman. In the Dream House was published in 2019 and won the 2021 Folio Prize and the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction. The memoir discusses potential modes for queer representation through the use of multiple narrative techniques. As of 2022, Machado lives in Pennsylvania with her wife and works at the University of Pennsylvania.Other work by... Read In the Dream House Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction
Isabel Allende’s In the Midst of Winter is a novel published in 2017 that follows the alternating perspectives of three immigrants whose lives become intertwined after a car accident during a snowstorm in New York City. This study guide refers to the Kindle edition of the novel.Plot OverviewOne night, during a brutal snowstorm in New York City, Richard Bowmaster is driving home when he accidentally crashes into Evelyn Ortega’s car. While he assumes it is... Read In the Midst of Winter Summary
Publication year 2000
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Historical Fiction, Women`s Studies, Latin American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
In the Name of Salomé, first published in 2000, is the fourth novel by Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez. Alvarez is a poet as well as a novelist and has also written essays, nonfiction works, and children’s books. Alvarez was born in the United States but raised in the Dominican Republic, and her work focuses heavily on the experience of a Latina assimilating into American culture. Her family’s political activity in their homeland and her own... Read In the Name of Salome Summary
Publication year 1994
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Historical Fiction, Animals, Latin American Literature, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction
The novel is set in the Dominican Republic, in both 1994—the “present day”—and during the period of Trujillo’s regime. In 1994, Dedé Mirabal lives in the house where her three sisters—Minerva, Patria and María Teresa—and her family used to live. Her dead sisters are known as the “butterflies,” they are martyrs and national heroes. In 1994, Dedé talks to an interviewer about her sisters’ lives and deaths. Her narrative is interspersed with her own memories... Read In the Time of the Butterflies Summary
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age
Tags Action & Adventure, Coming of Age, Immigration & Refugeeism, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Travel Literature
Into the Beautiful North is an adventure story that parallels the plot of the Hollywood movie, The Magnificent Seven. Set in the village of Tres Camarones in Sinaloa, Mexico, the novel’s protagonist, nineteen-year-old Nayeli, notices that there are no men left in the village – they have all gone north for more opportunities and a better life. Fearing that the village will be taken over by bandidos, and with no real law enforcement or men... Read Into the Beautiful North Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Friendship, Language, Immigration, Race
Tags Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, The Past, Colonialism
Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Spanish Literature, Women`s Studies, World History, Romance
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Mental Health, Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Race, Coming of Age, Death, Fathers, Grandparents, Mothers, Self Discovery, Safety & Danger
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mental Illness
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Sexual Identity, Race, 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 1955
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Family, Conflict, Fear, Hope, Love, Memory, Femininity, Language, Masculinity, Mental Health, Aging, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Objects & Materials, Place, Daughters & Sons, Friendship, Marriage, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, Grief & Death
Leaf Storm and Other Stories is a collection of fiction by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. The collection includes the title novella, Leaf Storm (La Hojarasca), first published in its original Spanish-language text in 1955. When Gregory Rabassa produced the first English translation of the novella, it was published (originally in 1972) alongside six short stories representing García Márquez’s work between 1951 and 1968.The collection offers an early glimpse into the magical realism and rural... Read Leaf Storm Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Perseverance, Race, Self Discovery, Immigration, Friendship
Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Latin American Literature, Jewish Literature, Race & Racism, Holocaust, Children`s Literature, Military & War, World History