Entertainment brings us into worlds we couldn’t have imagined. Proper representation has been making progress in movies and TV shows, but what about books? As a Latina, it is important for me to read and watch characters that I feel can represent me rather than characters that don’t resonate with me. Since being Latina is such a big part of my identity, books with that type of representation are ones that I especially like to read. Below, I provide a list of books that have Latinx representations for whoever enjoys reading these types of books too.
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This book is a horror book, one of my favorite genres. It’s about a socialite named Noemí who receives a letter from her cousin, Catalina, who accuses her husband of plotting to murder her with poison. The story follows Noemí as she attempts to figure out what’s really happening.
- Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Cruz’s book takes place in the ’60s and revolves around 15-year-old Ana Cancion after she is forced to marry a 32-year-old man who moves her out of the Dominican Republic to New York City. It follows the marriage between them and how Cancion’s strength pushes her through this time in her life that she does not like.
- I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
After her older sister, Olga, passes away, Julia finds a few things in Olga’s room that make her realize she wasn’t the “perfect daughter” everyone thought her to be. Throughout this novel, Julia follows her dream of becoming a writer and finding herself while dealing with the new revelations and grief.
- The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
This book is a classic, at least in my opinion, because I read this when I was in middle school. It’s written in vignettes and covers one year of Esperanza’s life after she and her family move to a house on Mango Street in Chicago, hence the title. It’s a step up from her family’s previous apartment but still not what she expected. Prepare to read about how this 12-year-old grows up over the course of this year in her life.