YA Books with Powerful Latina Characters and StoriesLike this list

16 items

• Everything Within and in Between

  Barthelmess, Nikki,

  Add Everything Within and in Between to your for later shelf

  "'Color Me In' meets 'I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter' in 'Everything Within and In Between,' a deeply honest coming-of-age story about reclaiming a heritage buried under assimilation, the bonds within families, and defining who you…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School

  Reyes, Sonora,

  Add The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School to your for later shelf

  Sixteen-year-old Mexican American Yami Flores starts Catholic school, determined to keep her brother out of trouble and keep herself closeted, but her priorities shift when Yami discovers that her openly gay classmate Bo is also annoyingly…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

  Maldonado, Crystal,

  Add Fat Chance, Charlie Vega to your for later shelf

  "Charlie Vega is smart, funny, artistic, ambitious. And fat. People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. The world wants Charlie to be thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired, like her best friend…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Juliet Takes a Breath

  Rivera, Gabby,

  Add Juliet Takes a Breath to your for later shelf

  "Juliet, a self-identified queer, Bronx-born Puerto Rican-American, comes out to her family to disastrous results the night before flying to Portland to intern with her feminist author icon--whom Juliet soon realizes has a problematic…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• With the Fire on High

  Acevedo, Elizabeth,

  Add With the Fire on High to your for later shelf

  "Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Education of Margot Sanchez

  Rivera, Lilliam,

  Add The Education of Margot Sanchez to your for later shelf

  Margot Sanchez is paying off her debts by working in her family's South Bronx grocery store, but she must make the right choices about her friends, her family, and Moises, the good looking but outspoken boy from the neighborhood.

• A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

  Namey, Laura Taylor,

  Add A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow to your for later shelf

  "Seventeen-year-old Lila Reyes, furious when her parents send her to the English countryside to recover from grief and heartbreak, unexpectedly falls in love with a teashop clerk--and England, itself. After graduation, everything Lila…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Don't Ask Me Where I'm From

  De Leon, Jennifer, 1979-

  Add Don't Ask Me Where I'm From to your for later shelf

  "Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school, but when family secrets come out and racism at school gets worse than ever, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand"

• Furia

  Méndez, Yamile Saied,

  Add Furia to your for later shelf

  "Seventeen-year-old Camila Hassan, a rising soccer star in Rosario, Argentina, dreams of playing professionally, in defiance of her fathers' wishes and at the risk of her budding romance with Diego. Rosario, Argentina. At home Camila…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything

  Vasquez Gilliland, Raquel,

  Add Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything to your for later shelf

  "Artemisia (Sia) Martinez's mother was deported to Mexico by ICE and disappeared in the Sonoran Desert trying to make it back to her American family; Sia believes that she was as-good-as murdered by ICE and the sheriff in their small…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Never Look Back

  Rivera, Lilliam,

  Add Never Look Back to your for later shelf

  "A modern retelling of the myth, Orpheus and Eurydice, in which Eury leaves Puerto Rico for the Bronx, haunted by losing all to Hurricane Maria and by evil spirit Ato, and meets a bachata-singing charmer, Pheus. She fully expects the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Each of Us a Desert

  Oshiro, Mark,

  Add Each of Us a Desert to your for later shelf

  "Xochitl is destined to wander the desert alone, speaking her troubled village's stories into its arid winds. Her only companions are the blessed stars above and enigmatic lines of poetry magically strewn across dusty dunes. Her one…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Before We Were Free

  Alvarez, Julia

  Add Before We Were Free to your for later shelf

  In the early 1960s in the Dominican Republic, twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator, General Trujillo.

• Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

  Quintero, Isabel

  Add Gabi, a Girl in Pieces to your for later shelf

  Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy's pregnancy, friend Sebastian's coming out, her father's meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

  Sanchez, Erika L,

  Add I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter to your for later shelf

  Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents' house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This Train Is Being Held

  Williams, Ismée,

  Add This Train Is Being Held to your for later shelf

  Told in two voices, ballet dancer and private school student Isabelle Warren and poet and baseball star Alex Rosario grow closer after meeting on a subway, bonding over their parents' expectations and their own dreams.