Latinx Readathon // 2020 TBR

Image by Melnychuk Nataliya

An impromptu readathon has entered my atmosphere and changed my reading plans for August. The Latinx Readathon hosted by Sophia @ aelineskingdom, Lou @ Lou Reading Things, Nini @ Nikkie Reads, and Jane @ Big Black Books. The readathon is from August 1st through the 31st. The goal is to read as many Latinx books as possible during this month. There is a bingo card and many prompts to choose from. There is even a book club read. I tried to have books on most of the prompts but since I am planning on reading four other books separate from this challenge I tried to be realistic. One of the many recommended books for this challenge was a picture book that opened up so many more challenges for me. I may have added four picture books to my challenge but they count so... Below you will find all my selections for the Latinx Readathon:

Afro-Latinx Writer

Islandborn by Junot Diaz (Dominican)

Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places.

So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.”

A Poetry or Play AND Set in Latin America

Maria Had a Little Llama/María Tenía Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez (Peruvian)

Everyone knows about Mary and her little lamb. But do you know Maria?

With gorgeous, Peruvian-inspired illustrations and English and Spanish retellings, Angela Dominguez's Maria Had a Little Llama / María Tenía Una Llamita gives a fresh new twist to the classic rhyme. Maria and her mischievous little llama will steal your heart.

Short Story Collection AND a Latin American Classic

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (Mexican)

Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.

Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.

 

A Plot Centered Around Food

Yum! MmMm! Que Rico! Americas' Sproutings by Pat Mora (Latin American)

Peanuts, blueberries, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and more-here is a luscious collection of haiku celebrating foods native to the Americas. Brimming with imagination and fun, these poems capture the tasty essence of foods that have delighted, united, and enriched our lives for centuries. Exuberant illustrations bring to life the delicious spirit of the haiku, making Yum! ¡Mmm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas' Sproutings an eye-popping, mouth-watering treat. Open it and dig in!

Bi Main Character

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova (Mexican)

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation...and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can't trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange marks on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland...

 

Children or Middle Grade

Into the Tall, Tall Grass by Loriel Ryon (Mexican)

This month's Hispanic Book Discussion Pick!

A girl journeys across her family’s land to save her grandmother’s life.

Yolanda Rodríguez-O’Connell has a secret. All the members of her family have a magical gift—all, that is, except for Yolanda. Still, it’s something she can never talk about, or the townsfolk will call her family brujas—witches. When her grandmother, Wela, falls into an unexplained sleep, Yolanda is scared. Her father is off fighting in a faraway war, her mother died long ago, and Yolanda has isolated herself from her best friend and twin sister. If she loses her grandmother, who will she have left?

When a strange grass emerges in the desert behind their house, Wela miraculously wakes, begging Yolanda to take her to the lone pecan tree left on their land. Determined not to lose her, Yolanda sets out on this journey with her sister, her ex-best friend, and a boy who has a crush on her. But what is the mysterious box that her grandmother needs to find? And how will going to the pecan tree make everything all right?

 

A Retelling

La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya (Peruvian)

The Princess and the Pea gets a fresh twist in this charming bilingual retelling.

El principe knows this girl is the one for him, but, as usual, his mother doesn't agree.

The queen has a secret test in mind to see if this girl is really a princesa.

But the prince might just have a sneaky plan, too . . .

Readers will be enchanted by this Latino twist on the classic story, and captivated by the vibrant art inspired by the culture of Peru.

 

Nonfiction

Tito Puente, Mambo King by Monica Brown (Puerto Rican)

In this vibrant bilingual picture book biography of musician Tito Puente, readers will dance along to the beat of this mambo king's life. Tito Puente loved banging pots and pans as a child, but what he really dreamed of was having his own band one day. From Spanish Harlem to the Grammy Awards—and all the beats in between—this is the true life story of a boy whose passion for music turned him into the "King of Mambo."

 An Immigrant Story

How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez (Dominican)

Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez’s beloved first novel gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures. The García sisters--Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía--and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their father’s role in an attempt to overthrow brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo is discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wondrous but not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try to hold on to their old ways as the girls try find new lives: by straightening their hair and wearing American fashions, and by forgetting their Spanish. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. Here they tell their stories about being at home--and not at home--in America.

A Graphic Novel

Quince by Sebastian Kadlecik (Latin American)

Lupe is just your average, insecure, well-meaning, occasionally cranky teenage girl whose life is completely turned upside down when she discovers she has superpowers at her quinceañera. Her quince powers only last as long as she's fifteen, so over the course of this rollercoaster year, we follow the adventures of Lupe as she figures out what it really means to be a hero.

A Backlist Title

Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish by Pable Cartaya (Puerto Rican)

Marcus Vega is six feet tall, 180 pounds, and the owner of a premature mustache. When you look like this and you're only in the eighth grade, you're both a threat and a target. Marcus knows what classmates and teachers see when they look at him: a monster.

But appearances are deceiving. At home, Marcus is a devoted brother. And he finds ways to earn cash to contribute to his family’s rainy day fund. His mom works long hours and his dad walked out ten years ago—someone has to pick up the slack.

After a fight at school leaves him facing suspension, Marcus and his family decide to hit the reset button and regroup for a week in Puerto Rico. Marcus is more interested in finding his father, though, who is somewhere on the island. Through a series of misadventures that take Marcus all over Puerto Rico in search of the elusive Mr. Vega, Marcus meets a colorful cast of characters who show him the many faces of fatherhood. And he even learns a bit of Spanish along the way.

Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish is a novel about discovering home and identity in uncharted landscapes.

 

Free Space

Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez (Cuban)

How did a raw chicken get inside Yasmany's locker?

When Sal Vidon meets Gabi Real for the first time, it isn't under the best of circumstances. Sal is in the principal's office for the third time in three days, and it's still the first week of school. Gabi, student council president and editor of the school paper, is there to support her friend Yasmany, who just picked a fight with Sal. She is determined to prove that somehow, Sal planted a raw chicken in Yasmany's locker, even though nobody saw him do it and the bloody poultry has since mysteriously disappeared.

Sal prides himself on being an excellent magician, but for this sleight of hand, he relied on a talent no one would guess . . . except maybe Gabi, whose sharp eyes never miss a trick. When Gabi learns that he's capable of conjuring things much bigger than a chicken--including his dead mother--and she takes it all in stride, Sal knows that she is someone he can work with. There's only one slight problem: their manipulation of time and space could put the entire universe at risk.

A sassy entropy sweeper, a documentary about wedgies, a principal who wears a Venetian bauta mask, and heaping platefuls of Cuban food are just some of the delights that await in this mind-blowing novel gift-wrapped in love and laughter.

 

I am thrilled to read more Latinx/Hispanic books this month. I'm happy that there is a readathon outside of Hispanic Heritage Month that celebrates Latinx/Hispanic books. Are you participating in this readathon? Have you read any of these books on this list? Do you now want to read any of these books on this list? Let me know in the comments.