Latina & Latino American Fiction

Fiction by Latino and Latina authors evoking Latino life in America. Primary nationality of the author is indicated.

	Julia Alvarez. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and others Uprooted from their family home in the Dominican Republic, the four Garcia sisters-Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia-arrive in New York City in 1960 to find a life far different from the genteel existence of maids, manicures, and extended family they left behind. What they have lost-and what they find-is revealed in the fifteen interconnected stories that make up this exquisite novel from one of the premiere novelists of our time. Dominican
	Rudolfo Anaya. Bless Me Ultima and others Tony faces the daunting prospect of growing up amidst constant religious and cultural uncertainty. His mother is a devoted Catholic, but her influence is challenged by Ultima--a woman with magical healing powers. As Tony follows his own path toward adulthood, he relies on Ultima's wisdom. With her guidance, he is able to forge his unique identity. Mexican American
	Oscar Casares. Brownsville At the Country's Edge, on the Mexican border, Brownsville, Texas, is a town like many others. It is a place where men and women work hard to create better lives for their families, where people sometimes bear grudges against their neighbors, where love blossoms only to fade, and where the one real certainty is that life holds surprises. In his sparkling debut, Oscar Casares creates a cast of unforgettable characters confronting everyday possibilities and contradictions. Mexican American
	Ana Castillo. Peel My Love Like an Onion and others Carmen "La Coja" ("the cripple") Santos is a flamenco dancer of local renown in Chicago, despite the obstacle of a handicapped leg, the legacy of a childhood attack of polio. From the beginning of her professional career, she has carried on an affair with Agustín, the married director of her troupe--a romance that is going stale from overfamiliar lust and an absence of honesty. But when she begins a passionate liaison with the younger Manolo, Agustín's godson and a dancer of natural genius, an angry rivalry is sparked. Mexican American
	Denise Chávez. The Last of the Menu Girls and others Rocio Esquibel is a girl growing up in a southern New Mexico town with her mother and sister. She defines her neighborhood by its trees - the Willow, the Apricot, and the one they call the Marking-Off Tree. Rocio knows she was born in the closet where she and her sister now take turns looking at the picture of Jesus whose eyes light up the dark. But at night she enters a magical realm, and in her imaginary Blue Room, she can fly. Mexican American
	Sandra Cisneros. The House on Mango Street and others Told in a series of vignettes stunning for their eloquence, this novel is Sandra Cisneros's greatly admired story of a young girl's growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Mexican American
	Tony Diaz. The Aztec Love God The Aztec Love God is a dark comedy about Tiofilio Duarteis's climb to obscurity. Originally, young Tio wanted to perfect the comic role of the Aztec Love God, his ideal persona. Along the way, he meets Jester, an older, Caucasian comedian who makes Tio an offer he'd like to refuse. Jester offers Tio an opportunity to join his act. The only condition is that he, Tio, has to perform Latino stereotypes. Tio has to decide if he is going to take the blank check for easy thoughts or develop the Aztec Love God on his own. Mexican American
	Maria Amparo Escandón. Esperanza's Box of Saints and others A magical, humorous, and passion-filled odyssey about a beautiful young widow's search for her missing child -- a mission that takes her from a humble Mexican village to the rowdy brothels of Tijuana and a rarely seen side of Los Angeles. Rescued from turmoil by her favorite saint, Esperanza embarks on a journey that tests her faith, teaches her the ways of the world, and transforms her from a fervently religious innocent to an independent, sexual, and passionately devout woman. Mexican American
	Cristina García. The Aguero Sisters and others Reina and Constancia Agüero are Cuban sisters who have been estranged for thirty years. Reina--tall, darkly beautiful, and magnetically sexual--still lives in her homeland. Once a devoted daughter of la revolución, she now basks in the glow of her many admiring suitors, believing only in what she can grasp with her five senses. The pale and very petite Constancia lives in the United States, a beauty expert who sees miracles and portents wherever she looks. Cuban American
	Francisco Goldman. The Ordinary Seaman and others In this lyrical and spellbinding book, Goldman tells the stories of 15 Central American men who have come to America--most on their life savings--to staff the crew of the "Urus". The ordinary seaman is Esteban, a veteran of the war in Guatemala, a young man haunted by the loss of his last love. As he works up the courage to start a new life, his story and those of his shipmates come to life, illuminating the conflicts and triumphs of the human heart. Guatemalan
	Juan Felipe Herrera. CrashBoomLove and others After his father leaves home, sixteen-year-old Cesar Garcia lives with his mother and struggles through the painful experiences of growing up as a Mexican American high school student. Mexican American
	Arturo Islas. The Rain God: A Desert Tale Set in a fictional small town on the Texas-Mexico border, it tells the funny, sad and quietly outrageous saga of the children and grandchildren of Mama Chona the indomitable matriarch of the Angel clan who fled the bullets and blood of the 1911 revolution for a gringo land of promise. In bold creative strokes, Islas paints on unforgettable family portrait of souls haunted by ghosts and madness--sinners torn by loves, lusts and dangerous desires. . Mexican American
	Manuel Luis Martinez. Drift At sixteen, Robert Lomos has lost his family. His father, a Latin jazz musician, has left San Antonio for life on the road as a cool-hand playboy. His mother, shattered by a complete emotional and psycho-logical breakdown, has moved to Los Angeles and taken Robert's little brother with her. Only his iron-willed grandmother, worn down by years of hard work, is left. But Robert's got a plan: Duck trouble, save his money, and head to California to put the family back together. Trouble is, no one believes a delinquent Mexican American kid has a chance-least of all, Robert himself. Mexican American
	Nina Marie Martinez. Caramba!: A Tale Told in Turns of the Card Welcome to Lava Landing, population 27,454, a town just this side of Mexico, where Miss Magma reigns and rockabilly and mariachi music are king. Enter our protagonists, Natalie and Consuelo, self-described "like-minded individuals." They spend their days at The Big Cheese Plant and their nights at The Big Five-Four, the hottest spot in town. But they have long-term projects, foremost among them to cure Consuelo of her unreasonable fear of public transportation and long car rides so they can finally take Natalie's 1963 Cadillac convertible on the road trip it deserves. Mexican American
	Jovita Gonzalez Mireles. The Woman Who Lost Her Soul 30 folk tales of the Texas-Mexico border region. Mexican American
	Elías Miguel Muñoz. Brand New Memory Gina Domingo, the teenaged protagonist of this engaging novel, lives in the world of southern California pop culture. Cuban-American by birth, Gina is less a multiculturalist than an omniculturalist, absorbing everything in her path. Like Salinger's Holden Caulfield, or the heroines of Joyce Carol Oates's Foxfire, Gina is possessed of a voice so simpatica -- so engrossing in her perception of herself, her family and friends -- that we find ourselves mesmerized and unable to stop turning the pages. Cuban American
	Michael Nava. Rag and Bone and others Mystery starring Henry Rios, a gay Los Angeles attorney feature many challenges for the character. Mexican American
	Achy Obejas. Memory Mambo and others Juani, a 24-year-old Latina lesbian, is exiled, with her irresistibly crazy family, from Cuba to the United States. Here a chorus of cousins--blood cousins and "cousins in exile"--wreak havoc as Juani attempts to sift through layers of memories and family myth to find the truth about her life. Cuban American
	Roberto Quesada. Never Through Miami Elias Sandoval comes to the United States hoping to storm the arts scene as a sculptor, only to be handed a dishcloth and a tray for clearing dishes. His quest leads the reader through a series of misadventures: from the lines of U.S. immigration to the kitchen sinks of restaurants and the bellboy-bound corridors of hotels in New York City. In Central America, he has left Helena behind, who through anxious---and hilarious---phone exchanges exerts constant pressure on her far-off boyfriend to send for her, in the hopes that she can fulfill her mother's lifelong dream of hobnobbing with ex-dictator's wives in Miami. Honduran
	Ernesto Quiñonez. Bodega Dreams and others This fiery novel strikingly evokes the trials of Chino, a smart young man to whom Bodega turns for a favor, but Chino soon finds himself out of his league trying to navigate an underworld of switchblade tempers, dog-eat-dog morality, and murder. Puerto Rican
	Manuel Ramos. The Last Client of Luis Montez and others In Denver, Chicano lawyer Luis Montez saves a drug dealer from jail, but makes enemies of the police by proving their misconduct. So when the dealer is murdered, the police pay him back by arresting him for murder, serious business as Montez does not have an alibi. Mexican American
	Beatriz Rivera.  Midnight Sandwiches at the Mariposa Express and others One Latina's amusing effort to whip up Hispanic pride in her town. Trish Izquierdo is a council woman in West Echevarria, New Jersey, and she is organizing a festival of Hispanic history and culture while juggling problems at work and at home. Cuban American
	Ito Roma. El Puente = The Bridge Thirteen women--all ages and backgrounds--react in unexpected, humorous, and mysterious ways when one day the Rio Grande River suddenly turns crimson red. The bridge, which the women cross and re-cross in the course of this cycle of stories, becomes a site where the women acquire knowledge about their lives and their landscape as the mystery of the color of the river unravels. . Mexican American
	Benjamin Alire Sáenz. In Perfect Light and others Ten-year-old Andrés Segovia life changes when his parents are killed in an auto accident in El Paso. Andrés and his siblings are stolen away to Juarez, Mexico by their older brother.  Andrés then returns alone to El Paso, where he is meets with therapist Grace Delgado, who has her own problems to work through.  A story of tragedy, abuse and renewal. Mexican American
	Patricia Santana. Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility Growing up with her large Mexican American family in San Diego in the late 1960s, fourteen-year-old Yolanda tries to help her favorite brother Chuy, a Vietnam veteran, who has returned from the war and is suffering emotional problems. Mexican American
	Esmerelda Santiago. América's Dream and others America as seen through the eyes of a Puerto Rican maid. She is America Gonzalez, brought over by a Westchester, New York, couple who met her in a hotel in Puerto Rico where she was a cleaner. A novel filled with insights and observations by the author of When I Was Puerto Rican. Puerto Rican
	Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. The Dirty Girls Social Club and others A vibrant and absorbing tale of six friends--each an unforgettable upwardly-mobile Latina in her late twenties--and the complications and triumphs in their lives. Mexican American
	Ana Veciana-Suarez. Flight to Freedom and others Writing in the diary which her father gave her, thirteen-year-old Yara describes life with her family in Havana, Cuba, in 1967 as well as her experiences in Miami, Florida, after immigrating there to be reunited with some relatives while leaving others behind. Cuban American
	Marcos McPeek Villatoro. Home Killings: A Romilia Chacón Mystery and others Romilia Chacón, a rookie in the Nashville police force, finds herself thrown immmediately into her first big case on her new beat. Are the ceremonially slaughtered cadavers popping up around town the product of ancient ritual, a serial killer or a campaign to shock rival drug lords into compliance? Salvadoran American
	Helena María Viramontes. Under the Feet of Jesus and others A novel of cultural clashes, social injustice, and love amongst the migrant farm workers of contemporary California, as seen through the eyes of a young Mexican-American woman. Mexican American
	Jose Yglesias. A Wake in Ybor City and others The protagonists are three sisters, part of a group working in a cigar factory in Florida. The novel looks at their assimilation into U.S. society. Cuban American