Hello! No weird hashtag this time, no summaries either, but still a quality list full of incredible releases written and/or illustrated by Latinx. I’ve been recovering from wisdom teeth surgery, which meant sacrificing my free time to healing instead of doing free labor. Though this quarter’s not as long as Spring lists usually are (they usually encompass May releases as well), that just means I’ll have enough time to plan out my Summer releases list and it’ll be a monster of a post.
This post encompasses books being released by Latinx writers and/or illustrators between February 15th, 2021 and April 30th, 2021. There are about 130 books in this list, which is divided by age range (Picture Books, Middle Grade, YA, Adult) and genre (Contemporary, SFF/Speculative Fiction, etc.) and organized by release date. Each book entry has its title (which is linked to Indiebound, Goodreads, or the Publisher’s website), author and/or illustrator, and release date. A Huge thank you to Latinx in Kidlit, their 2021 releases list for kidlit was incredibly helpful. Make sure to give them a follow as well.
Disclaimer: This compilation is by no means exhaustive or comprehensive; it only contains titles I’ve been able to find through extensive research. If you know of a book I didn’t list, or have a correction to make, don’t hesitate to let me know. I also add books at my own discretion, as I have no intention of boosting sexual harassers, racists, homophobes or transphobes, but if you noticed I slipped and added a book by someone who shouldn’t be here, let me know so I can take them out of the list. This list is in no way an endorsement of the contents of each book, as I don’t have the knowledge of what is in each and every book. All (or, at least almost all) links lead to indiebound.org as I am an Indiebound affiliate. Support your local bookstore!
Board/Picture Books
Board Books
- Big Yellow Submarine by John Townsend, ill. by Celeste Aires (3/2/21)
- Big Orange Plane by John Townsend, ill. by Celeste Aires (3/2/21)
Social Themes
- Graduation Groove by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, ill. by Addy Rivera Sonda (3/2/21)
- Peace / Paz by Baptiste Paul and Miranda Paul, ill. by Estelí Meza (3/2/21)
- When Things are Hard, Remember by Joanna Rowland, ill. by Marcela Calderón (3/16/21)
- All You Can Imagine by Bernardo Marçolla (4/6/21)
- We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch and Anne McGuire, ill. by Eduardo Trejos (4/6/21)
- 48 Grasshopper Estates by Sara de Waal, ill. by Erika Medina (4/13/21)
- We Laugh Alike/Juntos Nos Reímos by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, ill. by Alyssa Bermudez (4/13/21)
Biographical/Historical
- Alan Turing and the Power of Curiosity by Karla Valenti with Micaela Crespo Quesada, ill. by Annalisa Beghelli (3/1/21)
- Carmen and the House that Gaudí Built by Susan Hughes, ill. by Marianne Ferrer (3/15/21)
- Sing With Me: The Story of Selena Quintanilla / Canta conmigo: La historia de Selena Quintanilla by Diana López, ill. by Teresa Martínez (4/6/21)
Fairy Tales/Folktales/Retellings
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz adapted by Susan Hill, ill. Teresa Martinez (2/23/21)
Family
- Impossible by Isol, translated by Elisa Amado (3/2/21)
- The Ramble Shamble Children by Christina Soontornvat, ill. by Lauren Castillo (3/9/21)
- Coquí in the City / De aquí como el coquí by Nomar Perez (3/16/21)
- My Day with the Panye by Tami Charles, ill. by Sara Palacios (3/16/2021)
- Your Mama by NoNieqa Ramos, Jacqueline Alcántara (4/6/21)
- The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round by Wendy Wan-Long Shang, ill. by Lorian Tu (4/20/21)
- Balloons for Papa: A Story of Hope and Empathy by Elizabeth Gilbert Bedia, ill. by Erika Meza (4/27/21)
Nature
- Once Upon Another Time by Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine, ill. by Andrés Landazabal (3/2/21)
- Toucania by Marianne Ferrer and Valérie Picard (3/16/21)
- Zonia’s Rain Forest / La selva de Zonia by Juana Martinez-Neal (3/30/21)
- A Garden to Save the Birds by Wendy McClure, ill. by Beatriz Mayumi (4/1/21)
Early Reader/Middle Grade
Chapter Books
- Latinitas by Juliet Menéndez (2/23/21)
- Definitely Dominguita series by Terry Catasús Jennings, ill. by Fatima Anaya
- The Knight of the Cape (3/2/21)
- Captain Dom’s Treasure (3/2/21)
- Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile by María José Ferrada, ill. by María Elena Valdez, trans. by Lawrence Schimel (3/23/21) – Poetry collection
- Training Day by Raúl the Third (4/13/21)
- Tag Team by Raúl the Third (4/13/21)
- 13th Street #5: Tussle with the Tooting Tarantulas by David Bowles (4/27/21)
Contemporary
- Merci Suárez Can’t Dance by Meg Medina (4/6/21)
- Spirit Untamed: The Movie Novel by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez (4/27/21)
SFF
- The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas / Cuentos sagrados de América by María García Esperón, translated by/with David Bowles, ill. by Amanda Mijangos (2/23/21) – Short Story collection
- Fearless by Mandy Gonzalez (4/6/21) – MG Paranormal
- Dear DC Super-Villains by Michael Northrop, ill. by Gustavo Duarte (4/6/21) – Graphic Novel
- Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera (4/13/21) – MG Fantasy
- Goosebumps: Secrets of the Swamp by Marieke Nijkamp, ill. by Yasmine Flores Montanez (4/20/21) – MG Comic/Graphic Novel/Paranormal
Young Adult
Contemporary
- Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira (3/2/21)
- Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp (4/6/21)
Graphic Novel
- I’m a Wild Seed: My Graphic Memoir on Queerness and Decolonizing the World by Sharon Lee De la Cruz (2/23/21) – Graphic Memoir
- Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia, art by Gabriel Picolo (2/23/21) – DC Graphic Novel
- The Hazards of Love (Vol. 1) by Stan Stanley (3/30/21) – Graphic Novel
Historical/SFF
- Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera (3/2/21) – YA Fantasy
- The Immortal Boy by Francisco Montaña Ibañez (3/9/21)
- The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore (3/16/21) YA Contemporary/Magical Realism/Retelling
- Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas (3/23/21) YA Fantasy
- Your Heart, My Sky by Margarita Engle (3/23/21) YA historical novel in verse
- Oculta by Maya Motayne (4/6/21) YA High Fantasy
- The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky (4/13/21) YA Thriller
Adult Fiction
Anthology/Short Story Collection
- Caperucita se come al lobo by Pilar Quintana (2/23/21) – Short Story Collection
- Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds ed. Sergio Troncoso (3/18/21) – Anthology
- Eat the Mouth that Feeds You by Caribbean Fragoza (3/23/21) – Short story collection
- A Perfect Cemetery by Federico Falco (4/6/21) – Short Story Collection
- Chola Salvation by Estella Gonzalez (4/30/21) – Short Story Collection
Historical Fiction
- La visigoda by Isabel San Sebastián (2/23/21)
Literary Fiction
- Jaguars’ Tomb by Angélica Gorodischer (2/15/21)
- Mona by Pola Oloixarac (2/16/21)
- Cowboy Graves: Three Novellas by Roberto Bolaño (2/16/21)
- American Delirium by Bettina González (2/16/21)
- How to Order the Universe by María José Ferrada (2/16/21)
- An Orphan World by Giuseppe Caputo (2/21/21)
- Ella cantaba boleros by Guillermo Cabrera Infante (2/23/21 )
- El héroe discreto by Mario Vargas Llosa (2/23/21)
- Río muerto by Ricardo Silva Romero (2/23/21)
- Infinite Country by Patricia Engel (2/23/21)
- United States of Banana by Giannina Braschi and Joakim Lindengren (3/1/21) – Graphic Novel adaptation of Braschi’s classic
- The Last Twist of the Knife by João Almino (3/2/21)
- What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster (3/2/21)
- Out of the Cage by Fernanda García Lao (3/9/21)
- The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández (3/16/21)
- American Orphan by Jimmy Santiago Baca (3/31/21)
- The Mediterranean Wall by Louis-Philippe Dalembert (4/1/21)
- Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (4/6/21)
- Nancy by Bruno Lloret (4/13/21)
- Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces by Maceo Montoya (4/27/21)
Romance
- Perfect Pitch by G.L. Thomas (4/24/21)
- Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras (4/27/21)
Speculative Fiction
- Angosta by Héctor Abad Faciolince (2/23/21) – Dystopia
- The Blue-Spangled Blue (The Path #1) by David Bowles (3/16/21) – Sci-fi Space Opera
- ELADATL: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines by Sesshu Foster, Arturo Ernesto Romo (4/6/21) – Surrealist Fiction
- The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (4/27/21) – Fantasy/Historical Romance
Thriller
- Crocodile Tears by Mercedes Rosende (2/23/21)
- The Foreign Girls by Sergio Olguín (3/23/21)
- Goddess of Filth by V Castro (3/30/21)
- Angels in the Wind by Manuel Ramos (4/30/21)
Adult Non-Fiction
Anthology/Essay Collections
- La Voz Latina: Contemporary Plays and Performance Pieces by Latinas edited by Elizabeth C. Ramírez and Catherine Casiano (3/20/21) – Play collection
- White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing by Jennifer de Leon (3/26/21) – Essay collection
- This is How We Come Back Stronger: Feminist Writers on Turning Crisis into Change ed. by Feminist Book Society, contributions from: Virgie Tovar, Juli Delgado Lopera (4/6/21) – Essay Collection
- Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend : Notes from the Other Side of the Fist Bump by Ben Philippe (4/27/21) – Non-Fiction/Essay Collections
Biography/Memoir
- The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende (3/2/21) – Memoir
- Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico by Juan Villoro (3/23/21) – Memoir
- My Broken Language: A Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes (4/6/21) – Memoir
- Federico: One Man’s Remarkable Journey from Tututepec to L.A. by Federico Jiménez Caballero, edited by Shelby Tisdale (4/6/21) – Memoir
- Crude: A Memoir by Pablo Fajardo (4/15/21) – Graphic Memoir
- We Were Always Here by Ricardo Chavira (4/30/21) – Memoir
Cookbook
- Aguas Frescas & Paletas: Refreshing Mexican Drinks and Frozen Treats, Traditional and Reimagined by Ericka Sanchez (4/27/21)
Non-Fiction
- Deviant and Useful Citizens: The Cultural Production of the Female Body in Eighteenth-Century Peru by Mariselle Meléndez (2/15/21)
- Revolution Around the Corner: Voices from the Puerto Rican Socialist Party edited by José E. Valázquez, Carmen V. Rivera, and Andrés Torres (2/19/21)
- Thriving in the Fight: A Survival Manual for Women on the Front Lines of Change by Denise Padín Collazo (2/23/21)
- Roots of Resistance: A Story of Gender, Race, and Labor on the North Coast of Honduras by Suyapa G. Portillo Villeda (3/16/21)
- Gastropolitics and the Specter of Race : Stories of Capital, Culture, and Coloniality in Peru by María Elena García (3/15/21)
- Struggles for Recognition: Melodrama and Visibility in Latin American Silent Film by Juan Sebastián Ospina León (3/16/21)
- Fictions of Migration: Narratives of Displacement in Bolivia and Peru by Lorena Cuya Gavilano (3/19/21)
- The Trump Paradox : Migration, Trade, and Racial Politics in US-Mexico Integration by Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda and Edward Telles (3/23/21)
- Gothic Imagination in Latin American Fiction and Film by Carmen A. Serrano (4/1/21)
- The Black Man in Brazilian Soccer by Mario Filho (4/12/21)
- Press, Power, and Culture in Imperial Brazil ed. by Henrik Kraay, Celso Thomas Castilho, and Teresa Cribelli (4/15/21)
- Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture by Marilisa Jiménez García (4/15/21)
Poetry
- Duende de Burque by Manuel González (2/15/21)
- Bosque by Michelle Otero (2/15/21)
- If This Is the Age We End Discovery by Rosebud Ben-Oni (3/9/21)
- Transversal by Urayoán Noel (3/16/21)
- Smoking Lovely: The Remix by Willie Perdomo (4/6/21)
- Danzirly by Gloria Muñoz (4/13/21)
- In the Courtyard of the Moon: Selected Poems by Humberto Ak’abal, trans. by Miguel Rivera (4/15/21)
- Migrant Psalms by Darrel Alejandro Holnes (4/15/21)
Thus concludes this list!
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Thank you for reading! Follow the blog if you’d like to see more posts like this. Make sure you spread the word, share the list with friends, pre-order and buy these books! Are there books here that you hadn’t heard of? Books that you’ve already pre-ordered? Books that you hadn’t heard of and now are interested in? Are there books you think I might have missed? Let me know in the comments or reach out to me on social media (@boricuareads on IG, Twitter, and Tumblr), and I’ll add it!
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