What we’re reading for Hispanic Heritage Month
We love good books! If you’ve ever visited LHCC, you know that crates of books for all ages, interests, and reading abilities are key tools for what we do. As program director, I love to see kids and their tutors connecting together over shared pages. As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage month, I would like to suggest a few titles that introduce Hispanic cultures and also teach us about our common experience as children of God. Happy reading!
Elaine Hall, Program Director
Esperanza Rising
Pam Muñoz Ryan
2002 | Scholastic Press | 304
Esperanza Rising is the story of a Mexican girl forced to move to California during the Great Depression. She confronts challenges, connects with the people around her, and finds strength and courage to live her life with hope. This book is part of the sixth grade reading curriculum for CMS, so many of our students and tutors have read sections together.
The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo
2018 | Quill Tree Books | 368
In The Poet X, Xiomara is a Dominican teenager living in Harlem. She struggles to connect with her mother and her Dominican culture while also living as an American teenager. Through the course of the book, which is told in poetry, Xiomara grows to integrate the varied parts of herself. This is also excellent as an audiobook, available through the public library Libby app.
Enrique’s Journey
Sonia Nazario
2014 | Ember | 288
Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. (from https://enriquesjourney.com/)
Abuelita Faith
Kat Armas
2021 | Brazos Press | 224
Abuelita Faith tells the story of unnamed and overlooked theologians in society and in the Bible--mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters--whose survival, strength, resistance, and persistence teach us the true power of faith and love. The author's exploration of abuelita theology will help people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds reflect on the abuelitas in their lives and ministries and on ways they can live out abuelita faith every day. (from Baker Books)
As we walk together in faith, this book helps us learn from the particular ways Hispanic women have known and served God.
Grito Desesperado
Carlos Cuauhtemoc Sanchez
2019
This book, by Mexican author Carlos Cuauhtemoc Sanchez, is highly recommended by a number of our parents. It is a resource for communicating with teenagers and building a healthy home. I have not found an English edition, but if you’re interested in practicing Spanish and leaning into the adventure of leading teens, check it out.
Introduction