Page-turning books to read for Hispanic Heritage Month (and beyond)
September 15 kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month, a 30-day celebration of vibrant culture, resilience, and tradition. To celebrate, the Amazon Editors have rounded up a collection of books across genres—fiction, nonfiction, biography/memoir, young adult and children’s, cookbooks—that will appeal to anyone looking for an incredible read this month (or any month).
A fateful fender bender transforms the lives of three unlikely co-conspirators in another gem by Isabel Allende. In the Midst of Winter opens with endearingly oblivious academic Richard Bowmaster, who is rattled after taking his cat to the vet, and rear-ends a car driven by Evelyn Ortega. Ortega is not in the country legally, it’s her boss’s vehicle, and he's not the sort of person you want to cross (ask the dead body in the trunk). So begins a madcap adventure to dispose of the deceased and ensure Ortega’s safety, a plan hatched by Bowmaster’s tenant and colleague, Lucia. For such a zany setup, Allende does a deft job of illuminating the plight of unauthorized immigrants, and readers will be charmed by Lucia and Richard—two people in the winter of their lives, who end up bumbling towards an invincible summer (a hard-won one at that). You will happily bumble along with them. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
It’s difficult to find a foothold in the canon of mother-daughter fiction, but Melissa Rivero’s wise and witty Flores and Miss Paula is a worthy addition. As the novel begins, Flores finds a mysterious note under her late father’s urn, written in her mother’s familiar scrawl. It reads: “Forgive me if I failed you. Remember that I always loved you.” Flores hasn’t the foggiest idea what this is referring to, and the discovery cracks open the already-growing generational and cultural divide between them—a fissure the patriarch of the family had always dutifully applied putty to. With him gone, mother and daughter must forge a path forward, and it’s not a given that they’ll be walking side by side. Mother-daughter relationships may be a thorny thing to navigate, but Rivero has made this particular one a pleasure to read about. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
Beautifully written with powerful prose that packs a punch, this book is a meditation on belonging and birthplace, home and community, centered around the stories of the vast group of people who identify as Latino/Hispanic, and how that intersects with also identifying as Black, Indigenous, and white. The narrative stirs sorrow at times, but is interspersed with hopeful moments of migrants and dreamers making their way in America at great cost, and against strong odds. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Héctor Tobar, the son of Guatemalan immigrants, stitches his own experiences (including growing up next door to the man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.), and those of the college students he teachers, into a greater tale of prejudice and power—from the country’s founding to modern-day culture—that ushers in compassion and insight no matter your ethnic identity. As Isabel Wilkerson did with Caste, Tobar shows us that we all lose when we don’t recognize each other’s humanity, and the forces both subtle and enormous that shape the way we see the world. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl meets Solito in this collection of vivid and visceral real journal entries written by a 13-year-old as he spends five months traveling between Honduras and the US with his cousins to reunite with his parents, and five months in US detention centers that evoke concentration camps. It's heartbreaking, as D. Esperanza oscillates between mature writing you can't believe is from a kid, and youthful descriptions of his experience navigating near-death situations that belie the gravity of the situation. This book is co-written with the guard who salvaged Esperanza’s notebook from one of the centers, whose attitude and encouragement brings a big dose of inspiration (and some levity) to the page. These kids are incredibly brave, strong, desperate, and hopeful. This book should probably be required reading for an insider's view of America’s immigration policy that has been in place (in varying forms of severity) since the late 1980s, through Republican and Democrat administrations. Wow. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
Fear Is Just a Word is a work of reportage so epic and so meticulous, its central story so devastating and vividly personal, that putting it down will be practically impossible for readers, not until the very last page. One evening in 2014, Miriam Rodríguez got an anguished call from her eldest daughter, informing her that members of the Mexican drug cartel known as the Zetas had abducted her youngest daughter, Karen. A native of a Zeta stronghold—San Fernando, Mexico—Miriam had fought tooth and nail for Karen’s life years before—in a Houston hospital ward—and now she fought for it again, becoming part vigilante, part detective, part constitutional lawyer, and all avenging angel. A heartbreaking account of one mother’s stand for justice in a world gone mad, as well as a painful, harrowing history of how drug cartels came to feed the beast of demand from Mexico’s neighbor to the north with a depraved disregard for life and law, Azam Ahmed’s true crime tale is absolutely electrifying. —Vannessa Cronin, former Amazon Editor
This debut novel has a mystique that is not only beautifully displayed on the cover, but elegantly woven throughout. Set in the small border town of La Cienega, Texas, a dual timeline jumps between 1951 and 1994. Readers first learn about Pilar—a young, newly married mother who experiences a series of events that dramatically shape the course of her life. Fast forward to 1994, where you meet Lulu—a punk rock, Selena-lovin' Latina who has dealt with more heartache than any 15-year- old should. Pilar and Lulu meet, and there is something about Pilar that continues to draw Lulu in, flaming her desire to learn more about Pilar’s background and connection to Lulu’s family and the community. Spanish words and phrases are sprinkled throughout and cultural nuances within the Mexican diaspora are detailed in a way that offers an immersive and intimate view into the characters and culture. Providing a little bit of mystery and a lot of family drama—readers will become engrossed in this story of friendship, grief, and secrets. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
An Amazon Editors' #1 pick for ages 6-8, I love this book and think kids will want to read it over and over again. It’s the perfect balance of relatable (often embarrassing) experiences, family dynamics, and how to see the humor in all of it. A great fit for early elementary grade readers who will appreciate the school snafus, ¡Mistaco! had me laughing out loud all the way through. Scribble-style cartoon artwork expertly captures the characters’ emotions in a story of mistakes—we all make them!—tacos, and hilarious honesty. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ memoir reads like fiction—it’s dreamy, otherworldly, and expansive. It’s about a daughter and mother, who both suffered brain injuries, lost their memories at one point in their life, and discovered what it was like to know nothing of what came before. It’s also about a family that could look into the future and heal others, and how that skill passed from one “brown woman born of a brown woman born of a poor man who said he had the power to move clouds.” Grounded in family truth, the legacies we carry, and the stories that live in our bodies, Contreras’ memoir is a breath of fresh air and filled with the sparkly effervescence of life. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
Secrets live within all of us. And for decades, Carmen Rita Wong’s mother had been keeping a huge secret. The first part of Carmen’s childhood was spent in Harlem, surrounded by gregarious Black and brown Latina women, and visiting Chinatown where her immigrant father lived and worked. Her mother then re-married a white man, who whisked Carmen and her brother off to New Hampshire. Throughout her childhood and adulthood, those surrounding Carmen wanted to neatly, compactly define her identity and this memoir wrestles with exactly that. Are we defined by our genetics or by the people we’re surrounded by? What about the previous generation that sacrificed so their offspring could go after the American dream, how do they figure into identity? A fascinating memoir that offers an all too necessary reminder: no one should be boxed in. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
Rick Martínez takes us on a mouth-watering, 20,000 mile journey through Mexico, bringing the culinary wonders of this country to life in vibrant color. From Mexico City to Oaxaca to Sinaloa, Martínez highlights so many gorgeous specialties that you just might find yourself cooking Mexican dishes for the rest of the year (and beyond). And don't miss Martinez's new cookbook, Salsa Daddy, a treasure trove of recipes for speedy and slow-cook salsas along with a range of dishes to use them in. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
This memoir is harrowing. It’s heart-breaking. You have to read it. It’s the story of a 9-year-old boy from El Salvador who is entrusted to a coyote who will bring him across the Mexican border and reunite him with his parents in California. Equipped with a black backpack, a Casio watch, and understanding of the night sky, Zamora sets off on a journey that is by turns frightening and unimaginable. The writing is so visceral, I read long passages and then I needed water, I needed breath, I needed all the things this small boy was deprived of for so many days and nights. This is an incredible memoir and one that I suspect everyone will be talking about for years. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
This terrific debut gives the Zorro legend a feminist twist and I couldn’t be happier with the result. By day, Lola de La Peña puts on the façade of being a quiet, delicate young lady, but when night falls, she dons the mask that ironically allows her to be her true self: the vigilante Salvación. In this historical fantasy, there’s magic—used to heal and harm—a power-hungry man who must be stopped, romance, and bravery. Salvación is a fresh, exciting, and wildly entertaining new young adult novel. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
This debut has the heart, the comedy, the complexity, and glittering vivacity that make it easy to imagine as a TV series, which it will soon be. Olga is a successful wedding planner to the rich and soon-to-be-famous and her brother Pietro is a congressman—both have come a long way from their Brooklyn childhood when they were abandoned by their mother, a radical Puerto Rican activist. But when Hurricane Maria strikes, Olga and Pietro are forced to confront their past and their futures. In Olga Dies Dreaming there are family secrets, grievances, and the feeling of being caught between two worlds, which Xochitl Gonzalez renders with such clarity and zeal that it’s nearly impossible to not read this in one sitting. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
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