7 books to read for National Hispanic Heritage Month

Support Hispanic and Latino authors.

Yesterday was the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through Oct. 15. As someone who grew up without much in the way of literature that reflected my cultural experiences, I’m eager to support Hispanic and Latino authors by reading, buying, borrowing and sharing their work. So in this week’s Bookworm, I’m looking back at books by Hispanic and Latino authors that I’ve enjoyed in recent years.

“The House of Broken Angels,” by Luis Alberto Urrea

All you really need is love in this astonishing, sweeping, lyrical novel by Urrea, a Mexican American poet, essayist and novelist. “The House of Broken Angels” is set during a frenetic two days in which the De La Cruz clan gathers at its patriarch’s San Diego home for two farewells to family members, one planned and one unplanned. Though the novel is written in prose, Urrea’s poetic voice sings through this ode to family and connection.

“We Set the Dark on Fire,” by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Don’t let this novel’s young adult categorization deter you from reading it. The first title in a duology (the sequel is titled “We Unleash the Merciless Storm”), it’s a taut political and romantic thriller set in a society where the daughters of the elite go to finishing school to learn how to be their leaders’ consorts. Each man in power actually gets two consorts: one for his political position, one for his children. Dani thinks she’s ready and willing to enter this world, but she hasn’t counted on two things: a fierce tug from the past she thought she’d put behind her, and an equally strong pull of attraction to her sister wife.

“Cemetery Boys,” by Aiden Thomas

This debut fantasy novel was longlisted for the National Book Award in young adult literature. Its teen protagonist is, like its author, transgender and Latino. Yadriel is comfortable with who he is, but his family, particularly his grandmother, is not. To win their acceptance, Yadriel decides to prove himself — he’ll use the family tradition of magic to summon the ghost of his murdered cousin and solve the killing. Except the handsome young ghost who appears is not his cousin, and has his own agenda. Sparks fly, and thrills and plot twists ensue.

“Summer in the City of Roses,” by Michelle Ruiz Keil

Yes, the City of Roses referenced in the title of Michelle Ruiz Keil’s second novel is Portland, Oregon. Ruiz Keil transports readers back to the Portland of the ‘90s, which she described to The Oregonian in 2021 as a city of alternative parenting, arts and maker communities, street-level social work that included outreach to sex workers, and feminist activism that included the Riot Grrrls movement. Within that setting, she weaves Greek mythology and Grimm brothers lore into a lovely brother-and-sister coming-of-age fairy tale.

“The Japanese Lover,” by Isabel Allende

Think of Chilean American author Isabel Allende and you might think of magical realism, but the magic in this 2016 novel is purely about a surreptitious romance that’s lasted against the odds for seven decades, a constant unseen undercurrent to its main players’ lives. Allende presents this story as a bittersweet mystery, unraveled near the end of the affair by a nursing home care worker who finds it a welcome distraction from her own secrets.

“The Book of Unknown Americans,” by Cristina Henriquez

After a terrible accident, 15-year-old Maribel’s family leaves Mexico for Delaware, where they’ve identified a school that can meet her needs. Their new home is an apartment in a building that’s attracted immigrants from throughout Latin America, all of whom long for something better than what they have. Henriquez interlaces their stories with that of Maribel and the teenage neighbor who befriends her; while their relationship deepens, they are unknowingly setting themselves on a collision path with another, disastrous kind of longing.

“My Beloved World,” by Sonia Sotomayor

The path from an apartment in a Bronx housing project to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court is not an assured one. In Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s 2014 autobiography, she looks back on a childhood marked by two major themes: an alcoholic father who died when she was just nine, and a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. With the support of her mother, grandmother and others, Sotomayor got to Princeton University, where she graduated summa cum laude, and Yale University, where she edited the Yale Law Journal. Sotomayor writes lovingly and evocatively about her family and community (her descriptions of meals had me Googling for the nearest Puerto Rican restaurant) in this intimate, heartfelt read.