National Hispanic Heritage Month Reading List
From September 15th to October 15th we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Why does the holiday fall between two calendar months? Originally, the celebration was a week-long commemoration in June of 1968. It wasn’t until Ronald Reagan was president in 1988 that it was extended to 30 days. September 15th is the independence anniversary of El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Many other holidays fall in the days that follow, including Mexico on September 16th, Chile on September 18th, and Belize on September 21st. It continues through October, especially to include Dia de la Raza (Race Day) on October 12th, which is celebrated in Mexico to recognize the mixed Indigenous and European ancestry of the country. This month celebrates the historical contributions that those of Hispanic Heritage have contributed to our country as well as their history and culture.
Rita Moreno: A Memoir
Eighty-two-year-old Hispanic recipient of Oscar, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy awards reflects on her life. Describes moving to New York with her Puerto Rican single mother and breaking into acting as a teen. Discusses her two great loves--Brando and her husband--and parenthood. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2013.
Book Length:
Digital Book Number: DB077285
Latinoland: A Portrait of America's Largest and Least Understood Minority
A sweeping yet personal overview of the latino population of America, drawn from hundreds of interviews and prodigious research that emphasizes the diversity and little-known history of our largest and fastest-growing minority. LatinoLand is an exceptional, all-encompassing overview of Hispanic America based on personal interviews, deep research, and Marie Arana's life experience as a Latina. At present, Latinos comprise 20 percent of the US population, a number that is growing. By 2050, census reports project that one in every three Americans will claim Latino heritage. But Latinos are not a monolith. They do not represent a single group. The largest numbers are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and Cubans. Each has a different cultural and political background. Puerto Ricans, for example, are US citizens, whereas some Mexican Americans never immigrated because the US-Mexico border shifted after the US invasion of 1848, incorporating what is now the entire southwest of the United States. Cubans came in two great waves: those escaping communism in the early years of Castro, many of whom were professionals and wealthy, and those permitted to leave in the Mariel boat lift twenty years later, representing some of the poorest Cubans, including prisoners. As LatinoLand shows, Latinos were some of the earliest immigrants to what is now the US some of them arriving in the 1500s. They are racially diverse--a random fusion of White, Black, Indigenous, and Asian. Once overwhelmingly Catholic, they are becoming increasingly Protestant and Evangelical. They range from domestic workers and day laborers to successful artists, corporate CEOs, and US senators. Formerly solidly Democratic, they now vote Republican in growing numbers. They are as varied culturally as any immigrants from Europe or Asia. Marie Arana draws on her own experience as the daughter of an American mother and Peruvian father who came to the US at age nine, straddling two worlds, as many Latinos do. LatinoLand unabashedly celebrates Latino resilience and character and shows us why we must understand the fastest-growing minority in America.
Book Length:
Digital Book Number: DB120023
España: A Brief History of Spain
Bestselling author Giles Tremlett traverses the rich and varied history of Spain, from prehistoric times to today, in a brief, accessible primer for visitors, curious listeners and hispanophiles. Spain's position on Europe's south-western corner has exposed it to cultural, political and actual winds blowing from all quadrants. Africa lies a mere nine miles to the south. The Mediterranean connects it to the civilizational currents of Phoenicians, Romans, Carthaginians, and Byzantines as well as the Arabic lands of the near east. Hordes from the Russian steppes were amongst the first to arrive. They would be followed by Visigoths, Arabs, Napoleonic armies and many more invaders and immigrants. Circular winds and currents linked it to the American continent, allowing Spain to conquer and colonize much of it. As a result, Spain has developed a sort of hybrid vigour. Whenever it has tried to deny this inevitable heterogeneity, it has required superhuman effort to fashion a 'pure' national identity - which has proved impossible to maintain. In España, Giles Tremlett argues that, in fact, that lack of a homogenous identity is Spain's defining trait.
Book Length:
Digital Book Number: DB112039
Spanish Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Professor of Spanish presents a comprehensive overview of Spain's rich literary history, from the multicultural Middle Ages to the postmodern period. Examines changing interpretations through four centuries of the iconic figures of Don Quixote and Don Juan. Explores issues of gender, sexuality, and the importance of love as a literary topic. 2010.
Book Length:
Digital Book Number: DB087156
World without End: Spain, Philip II, and the First Global Empire
In this companion to Rivers of Gold (DB 61405) and The Golden Empire (DB 75034), historian Thomas explores life in the territory conquered by the Spanish Empire, stretching from Cuba to Peru. He also examines the empire's final conquests and its eventual turning towards management rather than expansion. 2014
Book Length:
Digital Book Number: DB083347
Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States
History professor examines the Hispanic past of the United States, from Spain's colonization of Puerto Rico in 1505 to the twenty-first-century debate over immigration reform. Encourages the embrace of Hispanic culture and posits that doing so would be to the nation's advantage and enrichment. 2014.
Book Length: 17 hours, 29 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB078528
The Poet X: A Novel
A novel in verse. Frustrated by her Mami's religious aspirations for her, Xiomara copes by writing poetry. When her school starts a poetry club, Xiomara looks for a way to participate in this forbidden activity. Strong language and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2018.
Book Length: 3 hours, 33 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB092221
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
After her older sister, Olga, dies suddenly, Julia knows she cannot live up to her sister's standards in the eyes of her traditional family. But she soon discovers that Olga may not have been as perfect as everyone thought. Contains strong language, some explicit descriptions of sex and some violence. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2017.
Book Length: 9 hours, 44 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB089358
The House of Broken Angels: A Novel
Dying patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, known as Big Angel, gathers his family to him for one last birthday party. His mother, nearly one hundred years old herself, dies in the days leading up to the party. The family reckons with truth. Contains some violence and some strong language. Foreign accent. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Book Length: 9 hours, 48 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB090352
Don’t Date Rosa Santos
Rosa Santos feels caught between cultures and choices, between her abuela--a beloved pillar of their Cuban community in Florida--and her mother, an artist who is rarely around. As her college decision looms, Rosa meets a mysterious boy. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2019.
Book Length: 9 hours, 7 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB095383
Dolores Huerta Stands Strong: the Woman who Demanded Justice
Explores the life of activist Dolores Huerta, from her early years as a teacher to her advocacy work that led to her co-founding the United Farm Workers union with César Chávez. Describes the 2012 ceremony in which Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. For grades 5-8. 2018.
Book Length: 2 hours, 54 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB093905
One Hundred Years of Solitude
1820s to 1920s. Latin American epic tale follows seven generations of the Buendía family through triumphs and disasters that parallel the fortunes and misfortunes of their utopian town, Macondo. By the Colombian Nobel Prize-winning author. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. 1967.
Book Length: 14 hours, 33 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB059490
Olga Dies Dreaming
In 2017, Olga is wedding planner for Manhattan's power brokers, while her brother Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy--especially as their radical mother comes barreling back into their lives. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
Book Length: 11 hours, 25 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB106303
Daughter of Fortune
In 1849 Eliza Sommers follows her fiancé to California, where he has gone in search of gold. Her experiences in the harsh land gripped by gold fever transform her into an exceptional woman. She is befriended by a Chinese doctor who teaches her about the human condition. Bestseller. 1999.
Book Length: 14 hours, 8 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB048869
Mexican Gothic
Mexico City, 1950. After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, socialite Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. Both the home and its owners seem to have a dark past. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2020.
Book Length: 10 hours, 42 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB099404