Elizabeth Acevedo's top 5 book picks for Hispanic Heritage Month
New York Times-bestselling author and National Poetry Slam champion Elizabeth Acevedo is sharing her five book recommendations in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is observed in October.
Acevedo is the author of "The Poet X," "With the Fire on High," "Clap When You Land," and, most recently, "Family Lore," a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.
Read along to find Acevedo's book recommendations for this month and beyond!
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'Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology' edited by Rigoberto González
González had a tall order to fulfill when putting together this anthology of poetry that represents some of the best Latino poets in American Letters. Spanning five centuries, and representing the work of 180 poets, this collection is as much literary riot as it is reference text.
This is a landmark literary feat, and features the likes of José Martí, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Lorna Dee Cervantes, Pedro Pietri, Sandra Cisneros, highlight Javier Zamora, Aracelis Girmay, Natalie Diaz, and U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.
'Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us' – by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez
In a gentle but no holds-bar approach, Mojica Rodriguez writes towards those of us who were raised with and by extremely strong women figures who were pushed into traditional archetypes of femininity. Her focus on the inheritance of colonial stereotypes that have wounded Latin American women (and the diaspora) for centuries, this book is heartwarming and how it shows grace and healing as it works to deconstruct the labels often imposed on Latinas.
'LOCA' by Alejandro Heredia
Sal and Charo feel stuck. Dominican immigrants, both in their mid-twenties, they are best friends with goals that always seem slightly out of reach. In a novel that is as tender as it is brilliant, Heredia chronicles with clear-eyed observations the highs and heartbreaks of having a chosen family, a dream you can't quite take the leap for, and loves that have been lost but never fully mourned.
Heredia writes with ferocity and warmth, and this novel will leave you deeply impacted. Marketed as if "Junot Diaz's critically acclaimed collection Drown and Janet Mock's Emmy-winning series "Pose" produced offspring" this novel needs to be added to everyone's TBR list.
'Angelica and La Güira' by Angie Cruz, illustrated by Luz Batista
Angelica and La Güira is a vibrant picture book by literary powerhouse, Angie Cruz. Angelica returns back home to New York City from the Dominican Republic, but is nostalgic for the time she spent with her grandparents and the land that raised her parents. Thankfully, she doesn't return to Washington Heights empty-handed, she has with her a güira that was gifted to her by her grandfather.
With this Taino instrument in hand, Angelica works to find how she can make the kind of music that will bridge the two homes she holds in heart.
'The River is my Ocean' – by Rio Cortez and illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin
Beautifully illustrated, and lovingly written, The River is my Ocean is a wonderful picture book to share with little ones. In this intergenerational story, Abuela takes her granddaughter down to the Hudson River as a way to remember and revisit the ocean of her homeland, Puerto Rico.
