Most Anticipated August 2026 Releases

From graphic novels to Puerto Rican recipes to great literary fiction, there’s an abundance of new Latinx titles out this month! Check out our list of most anticipated reads making it to the top of our TBR.

Take What You Can by Naima Coster | FICTION

Val and Milly fell in love with France at the same time they fell in love with each other and became immediate best friends. Then, they bonded as the only Black students on a study-abroad trip. Now they are in their thirties, each married and with a baby girl on the way. When Milly suggests Val move to New York so they can raise their daughters together after a decade apart, it’s a resounding yes.

Despite their excitement, the pair secretly wonders if their friendship has always worked best as a trio. On that first trip to France, these two motherless daughters were taken under the wing of an older woman named Helene. She showered them with money, love, and attention and showed them the possibilities of an independent and abundant future. But now, without Helene and her guidance, who are Milly and Val?

Milly, a successful influencer married to restaurant royalty, is occupied with her desire for freedom. Val, a brilliant journalist, is unsure whether she fits into Milly’s new world. The realities of class and social capital, of strained marriages and the demands of motherhood, serve as constant reminders of how far apart they’ve grown. And no matter how much they try to avoid it, everything comes back to the rift that began all those years ago in France. What they’ve long tried to bury may finally destroy their sisterhood.

Weaving between Brooklyn brownstones and the glittering beaches of southern France, Take What You Can is a dazzling novel exploring what it means to be a mother when you have none, a sister without blood ties, and a woman in pursuit of the life she wants. With her signature sharply observed prose, Naima Coster illustrates how to be—and to stay—someone’s person through all phases of life.

The Depopulation by Marina Closs | Translated by Thomas Bunstead | FICTION

"Of all the happy, hermitic lands, the Guayrá was the jewel."

So begins this polyphonic wonder of a novel set in a 17th-century Jesuit mission founded within the wild South American subtropics by the mystical and intense Father Ruiz and his assistant Father Maceta. As the priests seek to convert the indigenous Guaraní and unravel the many religious mysteries that surround them, the harmony of their community is abruptly upended by the arrival of Overá, who announces himself as the Son of God and younger brother of Jesus. But an even larger threat presents itself when word arrives that European marauders and slave hunters will soon descend upon the peaceful mission, compelling Overá and the priests to launch a mass exodus into the heart of the jungle.

Full of humor, passion, and terror, The Depopulation brilliantly evokes the moment when modernity's spark set fire to a still-magic world.

Stepping Up: A Graphic Memoir by Kiara Valdez | Illustrated by Diana Tsai Santos | YOUNG ADULT

Kiara is a long way from Washington Heights. She’s at Phillips Academy Andover—the prestigious school of her dreams. But her bulky financial aid laptop in a room full of brand-new Macs, her classmates’ endless chatter about overseas vacations, and everyone’s pristine North Face jackets have her feeling like she’ll never fit in.

Then she discovers the all-star step team, SLAM. Kiara will gladly endure long practices, sore muscles, and chafed palms to finally find her place on campus. That is, until tragedy strikes and those closest to her are hurt, and she realizes exactly what it means to be an Andover student.

Because at a school where her wealthy white classmates can get away with almost anything and students like her are made to feel lucky to even be at the academy to begin with, is belonging really what Kiara wants? And is she brave enough to step up—for herself and her friends?

Mad Dog Morgan by Adam Lawson & Brian Christgau | Illustrated by Dall'o | GRAPHIC NOVEL

Mitchell "Mad Dog" Morgan dreamed of making it to the big arenas in wrestling, but he never crawled out of the indies. They were right about him when they called him "just another jabroni." Deciding to drink his troubles away, he wanders into a crumbling house that's more than it seems—a supernatural world of horror that feeds on the hopeless. As the house tries to break him, Morgan realizes all his failures had prepared him for this moment. He was born not to wrestle in the ring but to fight an ancient evil that preys on the lost. Bloodied, brutalized, and on the brink, this washed-up jabroni will rise up to become the main event.

Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking by Omi Hopper | NONFICTION

Growing up in Puerto Rico, food had as much of an impact on Omi Hopper’s life as the culture. When her family moved to the mainland, Omi began to lose her connection with the island. So, she started cookingconomi to tie her life as a wife and mother to her desire to keep her culture alive and thriving.

Cooking con Omi is a celebration of Puerto Rican cooking with 100 classic and US-influenced Latino dishes that capture the vibrant, warm, and lively essence of Puerto Rican culture.

For Omi, cooking is not a task or a chore, but a memory-making experience. It’s the crush of garlic in a pilón, the scent of sizzling sofrito, the bubbling of the caldero alongside the music and laughter of a full house of loved ones settling down to eat. Each section includes an introduction from Omi, sidebars about the origin of ingredients, headnotes with the stories behind each recipe, vibrant full-color photography, and an overall message of love and unity Omi communicates through her food.

Piñen: Stories by Daniela Catrileo | Translated by Jacob Edelstein | FICTION

The word "piñen" comes from Mapudungun and refers to the dust or the dirt that sticks to the body.

In the all-too-real streets of Santiago de Chile, Daniela Catrileo gives us a portrait of a generation in search of itself. In “Warriache,” two childhood friends whose lives have been marked by their part Mapuche identity and the memories that bind them circle each other at a party. Their dance of delays and inevitable meeting expands into a tale across epochs—one that gives life to the hidden and suppressed experiences of those who live on the margins of other stories. In “Pornomisery,” a young girl considers the sexual violence that seems to lurk behind every closed door in her cloistered community and darken every possible route of exit.

Piñen is suffused with the humanity of its vivid, complex characters, bringing a side of modern Chile to vibrant life. It also marks the confident next step in the career of a writer poised to become one of the boldest and most uncompromising chroniclers of modern life in Latin American literature.

The Loneliest Tree in the World by Mariana Salomao Carrara | Translated by Julia Sanches & Alison Entrekin | FICTION

On a small tobacco farm in the south of Brazil, a family of five tends their crop and tries to keep up with the economic tribulations and environmental threats of modern rural life. The father, Carlos, is reckoning with a depression that has hollowed his soul, likely caused by exposure to pesticides. His wife, Guerlinda, must cope with her husband's mental absence from family life while raising three children and keeping the household afloat. Alice, the eldest daughter, rebels against her mother and traditional gender standards. Her younger sister Maria is the only one who still attends school, struggling to reconcile her book smarts with the harsh manual labor demanded by the farm. And little two-year-old Pedrinho still hasn't started talking, but is already being put to work tending the tobacco. All the while, the objects surrounding them are watching and telling us their story. There's the old, sick tree in their backyard; the mirror inside, which reflects the unsaid emotions and hidden traumas; the truck that transports them; and the protective smock that accompanies the family during the harvest.

As the harvesting and burning season approaches, big tobacco companies, unpredictable conditions, and consequences of pesticide treatments threaten the family’s livelihood and mental well-being.

Please Pass the Tamales! by Silvia López | Illustrated by Mirelle Ortega | CHILDREN’S

Join Liliana, Yasmany, Tomás, Eduardo, Isabela, and Valeria as they help their families prepare delicious tamales from Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Colombia! Each family has their own recipe for this special dish, but they all share ingredients, and come together for one big tamalada.

Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino, this is a delightful celebration of family, culture, and tamales.

Crocodilopolis by John Manuel Arias | FICTION

Once a powerful, cold-blooded politician in Costa Rica, Seth Oreamundo is now living in exile in Washington, DC – and his younger brother Osario is to blame. Born into a corrupt political dynasty and raised on a seemingly idyllic coffee estate, the Oreamundo brothers were destined for greatness. But a dark family secret and a scandalous double crossing sent their lives into a tailspin, changing the country forever.

Osario must pay, and Seth decides the only way to do so is to return home to Costa Rica and feed his brother to the infamous river of crocodiles from their childhood. What follows is a spellbinding story of revenge alternating between Seth's murderous plans and memories of the brothers' upbringing. With the wisdom of biblical myth and the soapy wit of a telenovela, Crocodilopolis is a masterful interrogation of power, masculinity, destiny, and legacy from a literary star on the rise.

Wifredo's Jungle: The Power of Wifredo Lam's Art by Margarita Engle | Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara | CHILDREN’S

In a village on the tropical island of Cuba, a boy named Wifredo Lam loved to draw his surroundings--hot blue air, cool green leaves, and brilliant flowers.

As he grew older, Lam paid tribute to his Cuban, West African, and Chinese heritage through his art, which brought dignity and respect to Cuba's rich mix of cultures.

Inspired by and in contact with some of the most renowned artists of the early 20th century, such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and André Breton, Lam blended European cubism and surrealism with multicultural influences to create his own unique style, culminating in the creation of his masterpiece La Jungla (The Jungle).

From Margarita Engle, a Newbery Honor Winner and a former Young People's Poet Laureate, and Jacqueline Alcántara, a New York Times bestselling illustrator, Wifredo's Jungle introduces young readers to the trailblazing life and work of Wifredo Lam.

Beatitudes (If Tomorrow Ever Comes) by Lupe Mendez

In 2026, 22 people have died in ICE custody. Thank you to poet Lupe Mendez for sharing this poem at the vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — may his memory, and this poem, fortify us in the fight for justice.

para Lorenzo Salgado Araujo (¡presente!)

Blessed be you, provider,

one day, you will be provided for.

Blessed be all the Dreamers,

for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed be all the trabajadores,

for one day, la calma, the stillness will all be yours.

Blessed are they that mourn,

for you teach us how to be lights in the dark.

Blessed be you, the witness, truth teller

for you inherit all we see and cannot say.

Blessed be those who gather,

you are the body siempre en la lucha.

Blessed be the barrio, quienes griten,

for we never forget un mal hecho.

Blessed be all the mother, the fathers,

for you are the kingdom of a god.

Blessed be all the elders, all the buelos, todo las doñas,

nos dan palabra y obra en las palmas de tus manos.

Blessed be all the children wishing on stars

all the children

all the children

all the separated children

all the disappeared children,

you call people to make more than peace, more than war.

Exclusive Excerpt: The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan

Latinx in Publishing is pleased to exclusively reveal an excerpt from The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan (out on August 18, 2026) courtesy of Little, Brown and Company.

A mother's love is the oldest curse

Fortuna Miércoles has finally moved her family to a better neighborhood across the Rio Grande, desperate to outrun the curse that's stalked her bloodline since her greatest grandmother crossed the desert with a cactus thorn splitting her throat. But burying a family's violent legacy--or her own haunting secret--isn't so easy. Twenty years ago, girls and women vanished into the Albuquerque night, their bones later unearthed on the mesa. The so-called Reaper was never caught. Now, beneath the dormant volcanoes called the Sleeping Sisters, the killings have begun again, and they've called forth something in Fortuna that she has long fought to keep buried...

Detective Jeanette Palacio has spent decades promising justice to the ghosts of her murdered cousins--alongside the memory of the other women she couldn't avenge. When a new body turns up in Fortuna's backyard, both women are pulled into a dangerous, ancient plot. Are the Sleeping Sisters awakening--or has someone in Fortuna's family set a trap?

Inspired by true events, The Sleeping Sisters begins as a taut mystery shot through with myth and a Chicana-Indigenous reimagining of the legend of the headless woman--but by its cataclysmic end has spiraled into a fevered, feral hymn to motherhood and a mesmerizing portrait of trauma and the monstrous bargains we make to protect those we love.

Scroll on for the chance to read the prologue and chapter nine of The Sleeping Sisters.

---

Prologue

I’ve spent motherhood dreading this. The seep of the plastic tarp. The squelch of our chanclas slap-slapping against the slush in the desert behind the Sleeping Sisters, their cinder cones numb and

silent for millennia. I keep twisting my ankles on the jagged basalt, and the horror I thought I’d left on this frozen hill seventeen years ago rushes back.

“Mama?”

The voice that echoes is not my child as they are now, cold and rigid, but as I want them to be. Whole. Safe. Unmarred by my monstrosity.

“Shhh,” I snap, yanking my foot free and nearly toppling us both. “Dig faster.”

I claw at the slurry of dirty snow, desperate mother that I am, as he takes the shovel when my hands blister, or have they been his on the splintered handle all along? Under his hoodie, he’s drenched and glowering.

Have I been shielding his actions all this time? Is that the fracture, deep down?

He says nothing as the shovel head devours another clump of mud. Then another. Until it breaks its teeth against the rocks with a sharp clang and my memory unhinges, same as most things tenuously sewn above my shoulders.

Snowmelt puddles. The Sleeping Sister volcanoes on the mesa lie dormant. Unwatchful. That’s what happens when you fall asleep. You stop paying attention.

It’s not just owning a body I’ve been afraid of but raising children into full-fledged adults with bodies of their own. That want. And need.

When they’re young, it’s simpler. Their needs stack like blocks—spoon-feedings, plush animals, a finger to suck. A patch of grass in a cramped yard, their world confined to the netted playpen. But as they grow, so does my fear.

I blink my ice-fattened tears away and spit out granules of dirt and gravel onto the tarp, where the ground slurps at our feet, making obscene little popping noises. We’re just organisms in a glass box again, the world frozen and fogged around us. The terrarium cracked years ago no matter how I pretend it hasn’t. Maybe I am as delusional as that cop thinks I am. Or as monstrous. I imagine we’re stargazing. A meteor shower’s due in a night or two.

The seams at my neck pulse, precipitation gluing my hair to my face. The Sleeping Sisters huddle, their backs hunched to us, indifferent as ever. These bitches could sleep through the end of the world. And maybe that’s now. “Dig faster!”

The sludge, the stars, the swirls of dread. His hands on the shovel, off with my head.

Nine

The lore on headlessness is fascinating. Refreshing. A cool breeze at the neck.

When you were young, you wanted to hear the stories of the past. You didn’t understand their implications. To you and your brother, they were akin to magical happenings. Colorful folktales in faraway villages.

You two checked out a library book called In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories, and you’re the one who said, “Look, Mama! Just like you!”

You pointed excitedly to a girl named Jenny with a puke-green ribbon lashing her neck in the inky illustration.

I replied, “They got it wrong, mijita.”

They stole our story. They penned us into a wives’ tale and dismissed us. Pinned us to the pages like moths. But it wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. Before “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Washington Irving had cribbed our story from a fellow writer, only she’d been Westernized, made French. Her choker was black velvet.

“Perhaps there were headless women all over the world,” you wondered.

“Maybe so,” I agreed.

Your brother wanted to paw at my throat with his grubby paws.

When you were little, more than the Gothic tales of the writers you and your brother were named after, you most loved the stories of our ancestors, but as you grew older, you stopped believing they were real.

I didn’t want to instill you with such fear, you have to understand, mijita.

I would’ve rather told you fantasies about girls who grow up to become queens despite their mothers or stepmothers interfering. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from your abuela, whom I haven’t spoken to since I was a teenager when she almost killed me, it’s this: Mothers toughen you up. They teach you how to save yourself when their shield inevitably fails.

Have I ever told you how I wanted to be a writer? I fancied myself a Gothic horror aficionado. When you were an infant, I read you “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Not very baby friendly, I know, but I never got a

chance to major in literature or creative writing like I’d wanted in high school. I not so much dropped out as had to run to keep out of prison or a graveyard. So that put an end to all my literary aspirations. Being dead inside will do that to a mother.

In my senior class, I was ostracized, the girl with the lecherous, murderous father. I could’ve gone full Carrie on them but what would’ve been the point? We’re all locked in the stories we’ve created. I’m sorry, mija. I get so angry sometimes.

---

Jennifer Givhan is a Mexican American and Indigenous poet and novelist from the Southwestern desert and the recipient of poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and PEN/Rosenthal Emerging Voices. She holds a Master’s degree from California State University Fullerton and a master’s in Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College. Givhan is the author of five full-length poetry collections and the novels River Woman, River Demon, Jubilee, Trinity Sight, and Salt Bones. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her family.

August 2026 Latinx Releases

On Sale August 4

Sleepover Sneak Attack by Kiara Valdez | Illustrated by Patricio Oliver | CHILDREN’S

Grab your favorite stuffie, because The Powerpuff Girls are having a sleepover!

But trouble soon arrives when naughty Princess Morbucks uses a machine to sneak into each superhero's dream.

Can the girls snap out of the nightmare and bring back the slumber party fun?

Find out in this high-energy early chapter book adventure featuring super sisters Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup!

Sad, Mad, Glad: A Day Full of Feelings by John Micklos Jr. | Illustrated by Lilibeth M. Jimenez | Afterword by Dr. Tia Kim | CHILDREN’S

It's a drizzly, damp, dull Sunday.
Nothing to do or see.
I'm feeling BORED. I need someone
To come and play with me.

And that's just the first of many feelings a young boy experiences on this day. From being GLAD about his friends eventually coming over to play, to getting MAD when little sister Kate gets in the way, our main character feels a whole spectrum of emotions over the course of one day!

Off the Wall: Making Stuff Together by Juana Martinez-Neal & Molly Idle | CHILDREN’S

Best friends Juana Martinez-Neal and Molly Idle know a thing or two about collaborative art. After teaming up to illustrate Julie Fogliano's I Don't Care, they set out to explore what it takes to make stuff together!

Off the Wall is a joyful celebration of that very process. The day begins with one little girl, alone with a wall and a bucket of chalk. Then a friend comes along to play tic-tac-toe. Before you can say "look out!", there are five friends, a cat, a dog, and a splattered ice cream cone. Chalk is flying, hands are getting dirty, and the art on the wall gets bigger and, more importantly, better.

Little artists and creative types of all ages will delight in the messmaking of a story that builds and builds to reveal what true friends make when they create together. Off the Wall reminds readers of the magic that happens when we play, experiment, and welcome the unexpected.

Vampire Girl Conquers the Night by Betina González | Illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson | Translated by Antonio Gonzalez Cerna | CHILDREN’S

Vampire Girl dreams of conquering the Night (and, maybe most of all, to stop being so scared when she has to turn the light out). But the Night can be anywhere - in the bark of a dog, in the base of a cup - and it is full of legendary monsters, creatures, and questions and fears of the world. Vampire Girl must travel to the Deepest Darkest Depth of her soul to conquer the Night...who, full and generous, will open up for those who dare.

Kiki and the Can by John Leguizamo | Illustrated by John "Crash" Matos & Liz Casal | CHILDREN’S

When the citywide mural project comes to town, Kiki finds a spray can of paint, and turns the blank walls of his neighborhood into a colorful canvas that lets him express himself through his vibrant artistry. At the same time, he shows the world the super-power of his cultural community and celebrates what it truly means to be a hero.

My Super Duper Me by Malcolm Mitchell | Illustrated by Deise Lino | CHILDREN’S

Welcome to a day in the life of Rhodes. The new kid at school.

He’s the only student who eats lunch alone, ends up at the back of the line, can’t throw a ball far enough, gets mixed up in math, and reads slower than everyone else. Every day, Rhodes wonders...

Will people ever see me?

Will someone ever hear me?

Will anybody ever try to understand?

Then Mr. Burton, the new school librarian, arrives with a Super-Duper Bookshelf that changes everything.

Like his hugely popular megahit My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World, literacy crusader and Super Bowl champion Malcolm Mitchell delivers an unforgettable story that celebrates the power and joy words can have for every kid who needs a boost from reading a great book and finds it on a special shelf.

Cryptids: Uncover the Secrets Behind the World's Most Baffling Beasts and Curious Creatures by Tamara Macfarlane | Illustrated by Valentino Lasso | MIDDLE GRADE

Step into the shadows of weird history and folklore with this captivating cryptozoology guide, revealing the truth behind the world's most famous (and infamous) monsters.

Young readers can investigate the stories behind legendary creatures, learning how scientific methods and detective work help separate fact from fiction. From deep-sea leviathans to shadowy urban legends, this stunningly illustrated guide encourages kids to evaluate evidence, analyze data, and form their own conclusions.

Paloma Joins the Circus by Lupe Ruiz-Flores | MIDDLE GRADE

Twelve-year-old Paloma comes from "circus people"―a family of performers traveling around Texas with la carpa, a Mexican American tent show. She dreams of becoming a tightrope walker, like her mother was, but her father forbids it.

In the summer of 1939, Paloma travels with the circus to help with chores. She hatches a plan to show her father that she has what it takes to join as a permanent performer. While secretly training to walk the high wire, she forges powerful bonds with other circus members. But she also discovers circus life isn't all glamour, and she must decide if la carpa is where she's truly meant to be.

Shook by Julian Randall | Illustrated by Nathan Walker | MIDDLE GRADE

Malik Page—though unless you're his mama, call him "Shake"—dreams of making the Marshall Grove varsity basketball squad as an eighth grader. Then he'll be on his way to joining the ranks of Chicago legends like his pops and late Uncle Kenny. But when Shake fractures his ankle in a championship game, he's sidelined for the first time since his first dribble.

As his world is turned upside down, Shake feels like there’s ginger ale bubbling in his chest and sweat slicking on his palms. With a best friend who’s getting more distant by the day, a growing silence between him and his dad, and varsity tryouts fast approaching, Shake will have to cross up every obstacle to find a way back onto the court—and back to being himself. Thankfully in Marshall Grove, the sky is always full of hope.

Teen Titans: Together by Kami Garcia | Illustrated by Gabriel Picolo | GRAPHIC NOVEL

H.I.V.E. has been experimenting on teens with superhuman abilities, and Kori Anders is next on their list. Dick Grayson, Rachel 'Raven' Roth, Garfield Logan, Max Navarro, and Damian Wayne got to Los Angeles to save her before Slade Wilson found her, but should she trust these strangers? After all, they’ve accused her mom’s fiancé of abduction, experimentation, and torture! And Kory’s new friend, Victor Stone has a summer internship designing next-level prosthetics at Edge Labs, a company funding H.I.V.E.

To make matters worse, Kori’s sister Kira is working with the organization and singing its praises. H.I.V.E. has a plan for taking down Raven’s demon father, Trigon. It's got a plan for training the next generation of superheroes. It's got plans for everything.

Lines blur as the teens struggle to decide what to do. H.I.V.E. might be their greatest ally…but at what cost? Can the Teen Titans pull together a plan before they fall apart?

Mad Dog Morgan by Adam Lawson & Brian Christgau | Illustrated by Dall'o | GRAPHIC NOVEL

Mitchell "Mad Dog" Morgan dreamed of making it to the big arenas in wrestling, but he never crawled out of the indies. They were right about him when they called him "just another jabroni." Deciding to drink his troubles away, he wanders into a crumbling house that's more than it seems—a supernatural world of horror that feeds on the hopeless. As the house tries to break him, Morgan realizes all his failures had prepared him for this moment. He was born not to wrestle in the ring but to fight an ancient evil that preys on the lost. Bloodied, brutalized, and on the brink, this washed-up jabroni will rise up to become the main event.

Stepping Up: A Graphic Memoir by Kiara Valdez | Illustrated by Diana Tsai Santos | YOUNG ADULT

Kiara is a long way from Washington Heights. She’s at Phillips Academy Andover—the prestigious school of her dreams. But her bulky financial aid laptop in a room full of brand-new Macs, her classmates’ endless chatter about overseas vacations, and everyone’s pristine North Face jackets have her feeling like she’ll never fit in.

Then she discovers the all-star step team, SLAM. Kiara will gladly endure long practices, sore muscles, and chafed palms to finally find her place on campus. That is, until tragedy strikes and those closest to her are hurt, and she realizes exactly what it means to be an Andover student.

Because at a school where her wealthy white classmates can get away with almost anything and students like her are made to feel lucky to even be at the academy to begin with, is belonging really what Kiara wants? And is she brave enough to step up—for herself and her friends?

The Depopulation by Marina Closs | Translated by Thomas Bunstead | FICTION

So begins this polyphonic wonder of a novel set in a 17th-century Jesuit mission founded within the wild South American subtropics by the mystical and intense Father Ruiz and his assistant Father Maceta. As the priests seek to convert the indigenous Guaraní and unravel the many religious mysteries that surround them, the harmony of their community is abruptly upended by the arrival of Overá, who announces himself as the Son of God and younger brother of Jesus. But an even larger threat presents itself when word arrives that European marauders and slave hunters will soon descend upon the peaceful mission, compelling Overá and the priests to launch a mass exodus into the heart of the jungle.

Memorial de Ayres by Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis | Translated by Margaret Jull Costa & Robin Patterson | FICTION

In your hands is the diary of Counselor Ayres, a retired diplomat now dedicated to chronicling his day-to-day happenings during the waning years of the Brazilian Empire. Ayres will be the first to tell you that he lives a simple life: the most eventful part of his week is lunch with his sister Rita or a visit to their family cemetery.

But a new love interest--and a bet with Rita--pushes Ayres from the confines of his quiet routine into the cheery home of the Aguiars, an older couple who, like him, are childless. Soon, the merriment is permeated by whispers that the power of the empire is fading--the end of slavery draws near. As Brazil's well-to-do ponder the momentous changes afoot over card games and afternoon coffee, Ayres finds himself suddenly unsure of his place in the shifting milieu: "Everything in this world goes in fashions, except for the stars and me."

Take What You Can by Naima Coster | FICTION

Val and Milly fell in love with France at the same time they fell in love with each other and became immediate best friends. Then, they bonded as the only Black students on a study-abroad trip. Now they are in their thirties, each married and with a baby girl on the way. When Milly suggests Val move to New York so they can raise their daughters together after a decade apart, it’s a resounding yes.

Despite their excitement, the pair secretly wonders if their friendship has always worked best as a trio. On that first trip to France, these two motherless daughters were taken under the wing of an older woman named Helene. She showered them with money, love, and attention and showed them the possibilities of an independent and abundant future. But now, without Helene and her guidance, who are Milly and Val?

Milly, a successful influencer married to restaurant royalty, is occupied with her desire for freedom. Val, a brilliant journalist, is unsure whether she fits into Milly’s new world. The realities of class and social capital, of strained marriages and the demands of motherhood, serve as constant reminders of how far apart they’ve grown. And no matter how much they try to avoid it, everything comes back to the rift that began all those years ago in France. What they’ve long tried to bury may finally destroy their sisterhood.

Drawn Together by Mercedes Ron | FICTION

Twenty-year-old Marfil Cortés lives the kind of life people imagine from afar. The daughter of a powerful businessman, she spends her days juggling Columbia classes, stolen hours at her ballet studio, and glittering nights in New York City. Her world feels untouchable—polished, predictable, safe.

Until the afternoon she’s abducted in Central Park.

Days later, Marfil opens her eyes in a hospital in New Orleans with no memory of what happened. There are no demands, no suspects, no explanation, only fear and the unsettling certainty that she is no longer safe. In the wake of the attack, her father tightens security and assigns her a bodyguard: Sebastian Moore.

Sebastian is controlled, distant, unreadable—a man whose discipline borders on dangerous. His quiet intensity unsettles and infuriates Marfil in equal measure, stirring resentment toward his presence, his rules, his unyielding watchfulness. Yet as the threat surrounding her refuses to fade, Sebastian becomes the one person she cannot escape…and the one she cannot stop wanting.

What begins as tension slowly ignites into something far more dangerous. Because the closer Marfil gets to Sebastian, the more she realizes the greatest risk may not be the one lurking in the shadows…but the feelings she never meant to have for the man sworn to protect her.

On Sale August 11

Piñen: Stories by Daniela Catrileo | Translated by Jacob Edelstein | FICTION

The word "piñen" comes from Mapudungun and refers to the dust or the dirt that sticks to the body.

In the all-too-real streets of Santiago de Chile, Daniela Catrileo gives us a portrait of a generation in search of itself. In “Warriache,” two childhood friends whose lives have been marked by their part Mapuche identity and the memories that bind them circle each other at a party. Their dance of delays and inevitable meeting expands into a tale across epochs—one that gives life to the hidden and suppressed experiences of those who live on the margins of other stories. In “Pornomisery,” a young girl considers the sexual violence that seems to lurk behind every closed door in her cloistered community and darken every possible route of exit.

Slow Elephants of Milan by Ángel Bonomini | Translated by Jordan Landsman | FICTION

A man and woman on a road trip make an unplanned detour to Laar, an empty city of palaces and canals that may be no city at all. Two gaucho rebels are captured during war--one finds freedom in writing stories while the other is driven mad with envy. And a traveler in postwar Italy is inspired, almost against his will, to record the mysterious progress of two elephants through the foggy streets of Milan.

In twelve short fictions threaded together by an insatiable curiosity about time, memory, art, and the divine, Ángel Bonomini (The Novices of Lerna) explores "the sweet and subtle interrelations of things." Originally published in 1978 and appearing in English for the first time, Slow Elephants of Milan is an indispensable addition to our literature of the strange and fantastic.

Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking by Omi Hopper | NONFICTION

Growing up in Puerto Rico, food had as much of an impact on Omi Hopper’s life as the culture. When her family moved to the mainland, Omi began to lose her connection with the island. So, she started cookingconomi to tie her life as a wife and mother to her desire to keep her culture alive and thriving.

Cooking con Omi is a celebration of Puerto Rican cooking with 100 classic and US-influenced Latino dishes that capture the vibrant, warm, and lively essence of Puerto Rican culture.

For Omi, cooking is not a task or a chore, but a memory-making experience. It’s the crush of garlic in a pilón, the scent of sizzling sofrito, the bubbling of the caldero alongside the music and laughter of a full house of loved ones settling down to eat. Each section includes an introduction from Omi, sidebars about the origin of ingredients, headnotes with the stories behind each recipe, vibrant full-color photography, and an overall message of love and unity Omi communicates through her food.

Dear Math, We're Not Friends by Lina Chopra Haldar | Illustrated by Teresa Martinez | CHILDREN’S

Nikhil is an Indian American boy who does not like math! Math gives him a tummy ache, and making mistakes scares him. His teacher encourages him to write letters to math to explore his feelings.

Soon, Nikhil is surprised to learn that not only are drawing, counting, and measuring all a part of math, but math will actually help him when he grows up--whether he pursues his dream of becoming an astronaut or an artist.

Told through his humorous letters to math over a school year, readers observe Nikhil go from feeling uneasy even thinking about math, to embracing how universal and even FUN math is in all its various forms. Dear Math, We're Not Friends makes an excellent gift for math teachers, librarians, and parents who want to help kids find the joy in math and develop a positive relationship with it.

On Sale August 18

Mutual Discord by Liana De la Rosa | FICTION

Sofia Mendoza has had enough. She’s done watching male co-workers steal credit for her talent, and now she’s going to do something about it. No one knows she’s the brains behind a popular video series highlighting and celebrating women in history who’ve been erased from their own inventions and discoveries. Her family and friends still think she has a successful corporate job and if they discover she is supporting herself by creating social media content, they’d be stunned.

Keeping her online persona a secret is lonely, but when she sparks a virtual friendship with an anonymous follower—A—first in her comment section with his insightful perspective, then in their private video chats, where he proves to be witty and catfish level good looking, the chemistry between them ignites.

But when her old friend, Caitlin, arrives for a visit, Sofia’s lies threaten to unravel. A is Alex Castillo, her best friend’s boyfriend. Alex doesn’t reveal that he knows her, and Sofia realizes he may be keeping secrets, too. With their friendship now in real life, can they keep their attraction in check?

The Loneliest Tree in the World by Mariana Salomao Carrara | Translated by Julia Sanches & Alison Entrekin | FICTION

On a small tobacco farm in the south of Brazil, a family of five tends their crop and tries to keep up with the economic tribulations and environmental threats of modern rural life. The father, Carlos, is reckoning with a depression that has hollowed his soul, likely caused by exposure to pesticides. His wife, Guerlinda, must cope with her husband's mental absence from family life while raising three children and keeping the household afloat. Alice, the eldest daughter, rebels against her mother and traditional gender standards. Her younger sister Maria is the only one who still attends school, struggling to reconcile her book smarts with the harsh manual labor demanded by the farm. And little two-year-old Pedrinho still hasn't started talking, but is already being put to work tending the tobacco. All the while, the objects surrounding them are watching and telling us their story. There's the old, sick tree in their backyard; the mirror inside, which reflects the unsaid emotions and hidden traumas; the truck that transports them; and the protective smock that accompanies the family during the harvest.

As the harvesting and burning season approaches, big tobacco companies, unpredictable conditions, and consequences of pesticide treatments threaten the family’s livelihood and mental well-being.

The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan | FICTION

A mother's love is the oldest curse

Fortuna Miércoles has finally moved her family to a better neighborhood across the Rio Grande, desperate to outrun the curse that's stalked her bloodline since her greatest grandmother crossed the desert with a cactus thorn splitting her throat. But burying a family's violent legacy--or her own haunting secret--isn't so easy. Twenty years ago, girls and women vanished into the Albuquerque night, their bones later unearthed on the mesa. The so-called Reaper was never caught. Now, beneath the dormant volcanoes called the Sleeping Sisters, the killings have begun again, and they've called forth something in Fortuna that she has long fought to keep buried...

Detective Jeanette Palacio has spent decades promising justice to the ghosts of her murdered cousins--alongside the memory of the other women she couldn't avenge. When a new body turns up in Fortuna's backyard, both women are pulled into a dangerous, ancient plot. Are the Sleeping Sisters awakening--or has someone in Fortuna's family set a trap?

Tapeworm by A. P. Thayer | FICTION

It needs to feed.

After the recent separation from his wife Trish, Victor hopes his friends' annual weekend retreat to the Californian desert town of Superstition will loosen him up and reforge the group's fraying bonds. But something is waiting underneath Superstition, crawling its way into their group, and feeding into their desires. 

Victor knows too well what it means to repress his desires. He's always attempted to be the perfect partner, yet often found himself lacking. With Trish skipping the trip, he begins falling into the wild underbelly of Superstition in new ways. When the leader of the town's Welcoming Committee approaches him with a romantic, sexually charged offer, Victor wonders if it's too good to be true.

But the Welcoming Committee expects a price to be paid for its services. One that cannot be fulfilled by willing bodies alone. By the end of the weekend, group bonding will have developed a whole new meaning. 

Because something is hungry for Victor and his friends.

The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes | FICTION

Dante, Piglet, Miguel, and Hugo are your average students trying to make ends meet with part-time jobs, excited about the bright futures at their fingertips. So when their rent skyrockets, they struggle to keep their new lives and big dreams afloat. They need to make money however they can. In order to keep their apartment, the friends adopt an unorthodox plan and are soon sucked into a dark world of secret dinner parties catering to the twisted fantasies of Rio’s elite.

What starts as a joke quickly spirals out of their control. As the four friends fall deeper into this dark underworld and earn more money, the stakes get higher and the consequences deadlier, revealing the devious depths that lurk within each of them and threatening not only their friendship but also their lives.

Barbie: Dreamscape by Alex Aster | MIDDLE GRADE

Out of the box. Into the unexpected.

Barbie’s life is perfect. She lives in a pink-hued paradise called Heartland where everything is in order and everyone has a role to play, thanks to the mysterious and all-powerful beings who will soon assign her a Fate at graduation from the enchanted Swancrest Academy. She’s worked hard to earn a good one. Her years of endless studying and acing every challenge are about to pay off. But when the unthinkable happens and Barbie is left Fateless—the first in Heartland’s history—her carefully ordered world shatters.

Shaken and uncertain, Barbie must confront a future she never imagined: one with no clear path forward at all. Yet when a mysterious necklace begins to pulse with hidden power, she is drawn beyond Heartland’s protective mists into a daring journey across extraordinary lands. From sun-drenched shores to treacherous, ever-shifting landscapes, to shadowed forests steeped in secrets and magic, each realm will test Barbie’s courage, sharpen her wits, and awaken strengths she never knew she possessed—all while drawing her ever closer to a buried truth that could change her world forever.

The Hungry Forest by Kaela Rivera | MIDDLE GRADE

Ryan's dad had a lot of rules:

• Never let others see you cry.

• Never let people outside of the family hear you speaking Spanish.

• But the most important rule of all? Never go into the hungry forest.

Since his father's death, Ryan has worked extra hard to follow his father's rules and be the kind of man his father would be proud of. But Ryan's anger is getting out of control, and he can't seem to stop taking it out on his younger brother Teddy.

When Teddy and Ryan think they hear their father calling them from The Hungry Forest, Ryan ventures in. Teddy was supposed to wait outside, but he didn't listen, and is quickly captured by a terrifying, masked monster.

With no sign of Dad and monsters closing in, one thing is clear: The forest is as cursed as the legends say. If Ryan can't find his brother and escape the woods before sunrise, they'll be trapped there forever. Ryan and Teddy will have to face their fears-and each other-to make it out alive.

My Sister's Quinceañera by Delia Ruiz | Illustrated by Elisa Chavarri | CHILDREN’S

The only person more excited for Erika's quinceañera is her little sister Natalia! As the family busily sets up decorations, cooks traditional foods, and finalizes every detail, Natalia helps Erika get ready, imagining her own future quinceañera. But when the party finally arrives, Natalia feels a mix of excitement and loneliness as Erika is swept up in the festivities with guests and her court. Now that Erika is considered an adult, will their special bond remain?

Please Pass the Tamales! by Silvia López | Illustrated by Mirelle Ortega | CHILDREN’S

Join Liliana, Yasmany, Tomás, Eduardo, Isabela, and Valeria as they help their families prepare delicious tamales from Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Colombia! Each family has their own recipe for this special dish, but they all share ingredients, and come together for one big tamalada.

Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino, this is a delightful celebration of family, culture, and tamales.

The Women Before Us: Weaving Stories in My Huipil by Nydia Armendia-Sánchez | Illustrated by Dana Sanmar | CHILDREN’S

Together, the threads in my huipil
hold a message,
tell a story
of who we are.

Of who I am.

A young girl proudly wears a colorful tunic, or huipil, that features the sun’s reflection. It symbolizes the lake she lives on, a design she sometimes embellishes with shimmering sequins and beads. Her abuela’s huipil highlights zigzag mountains to stand for her home of origin, while her sister’s boasts butterflies like the ones that she rides in her daydreams. Indigenous to Mesoamerica, huipils use colors, imagery, symbols, and motifs to evoke everything from the wearer’s village to her social status, from her cultural heritage to the things that she loves. Combining a poetic text with vivid cut paper and digitally painted illustrations, interwoven with patterns from the huipils, this captivating book ends with an author’s note exploring the history and process of this rich tradition, and the challenges of keeping it alive.

The Only Way to Dance by Cristina Quintero | Illustrated by Eugenia Mello | CHILDREN’S

What's the only way to dance?

You'll need a beat. Any beat will do.

You'll need a space. Maybe a bright clean stage made of perfectly matched boards or a mossy forest floor.

You'll probably want music. A full orchestra, some trumpets or violins, or the buzz and blare of a busy street.

You might dance with a group, moving together to tell a story. You might dance with family to celebrate something special. You might dance on your own to show who you are.

What's the only way to dance?

Your way!

On Sale August 25

Crocodilopolis by John Manuel Arias | FICTION

Once a powerful, cold-blooded politician in Costa Rica, Seth Oreamundo is now living in exile in Washington, DC – and his younger brother Osario is to blame. Born into a corrupt political dynasty and raised on a seemingly idyllic coffee estate, the Oreamundo brothers were destined for greatness. But a dark family secret and a scandalous double crossing sent their lives into a tailspin, changing the country forever.

Osario must pay, and Seth decides the only way to do so is to return home to Costa Rica and feed his brother to the infamous river of crocodiles from their childhood. What follows is a spellbinding story of revenge alternating between Seth's murderous plans and memories of the brothers' upbringing. With the wisdom of biblical myth and the soapy wit of a telenovela, Crocodilopolis is a masterful interrogation of power, masculinity, destiny, and legacy from a literary star on the rise.

Dèy by Edwidge Danticat | FICTION

“Is home the place where we are born? Or is it the place where we die?” These questions haunt Magnolia, a successful Haitian American real estate agent in Miami. When she hears gunfire while at a shopping mall, she takes shelter in a nearby restaurant, cowering with fellow shoppers and diners. Once she’s safely home, Magnolia keeps this traumatic event from everyone. But given her life back, she begins to see everything clearly: her extraordinary bond with her daughter, Zoë; her nearly broken relationship with Zoë’s father; the challenges of her mentally troubled mother, whose unraveling patterns Magnolia worries she’s spiraling toward herself; and her father’s affair with a woman who has borne him a child. While struggling through the labyrinth of her past, Magnolia must also come to terms with the losses sustained that life-altering day, and nearly every day by her parents and sibling in Haiti.

Can love or family protect us from harm? Does optimism or fear win out in one’s heart? Which side will prevail for Magnolia? Pulled between these questions, each of which involves a high-stakes choice—Miami or Haiti, single or married, mortal or ghost, before or after—Magnolia is a narrator who is “yon pati koukouy, part firefly”: flitting and shimmering between different worlds.

Raise the Bar by Fernanda Frick H. | GRAPHIC NOVEL

Sam Sanchez might not have a coach or proper equipment, but she’s going to become Chile’s first weightlifting gold medalist. She just knows it.

When there’s an opportunity to train at the high-performance center with her weightlifting hero and Olympic gold medalist Eva Dos Santos . . . well, Sam can’t let that opportunity pass. Even if it means going behind her parents’ back.

As she makes friends (and a rival) during training and tries to qualify for the Pan American Games, she’ll find out how far hard work and perseverance can take her and just how much weight she’s able to hold.

No Place on Earth by Andrea Beatriz Arango | MIDDLE GRADE

Since moving to Yellowstone National Park for his mom's job, Gustavo Santos Costa has had a lot on his mind.

• For instance: bison stampedes. Did you know that bison can run three times faster than the average person?

• Also: Why do people always stand so close to boiling hot springs?!

• Finally: the bad dreams. Why have they only gotten worse since the move?

And that’s all before Gus somehow meets his classmate Kordell inside his dreams. While Gus avoids sleeping (and nightmares) at all costs, Kordell finds that dreams seem to be a welcome escape from his real life . . . until one day, they're no longer enough. Gus may be the only person who can help Kordell. But when most things already feel too big to take on, how can Gus find the courage to be there for his friends?

Wifredo's Jungle: The Power of Wifredo Lam's Art by Margarita Engle | Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara | CHILDREN’S

In a village on the tropical island of Cuba, a boy named Wifredo Lam loved to draw his surroundings--hot blue air, cool green leaves, and brilliant flowers.

As he grew older, Lam paid tribute to his Cuban, West African, and Chinese heritage through his art, which brought dignity and respect to Cuba's rich mix of cultures.

Inspired by and in contact with some of the most renowned artists of the early 20th century, such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and André Breton, Lam blended European cubism and surrealism with multicultural influences to create his own unique style, culminating in the creation of his masterpiece La Jungla (The Jungle).

From Margarita Engle, a Newbery Honor Winner and a former Young People's Poet Laureate, and Jacqueline Alcántara, a New York Times bestselling illustrator, Wifredo's Jungle introduces young readers to the trailblazing life and work of Wifredo Lam.

Curious Mind and Dancing Feet: A Book about ADHD by Melinda González | Illustrated by Amélie Videlo | CHILDREN’S

In Curious Mind and Dancing Feet, a young girl explains what it's like to live with ADHD. Sometimes her mind wants to wander, and she often gets the wiggles. But when it comes to bugs, she's laser focused. People don't understand why she fills her pockets with bug-friendly snacks, and they don't have to. The important thing is, her Mami, Abuelita, and friends understand, and they help her embrace her ADHD when she starts to feel jumbled up. With ADHD, life is complicated--and full of joy and wonder.

Most Anticipated July 2026 Releases

Here are a few of the books we happily added to our ever-growing TBR pile this month. Take a look and pick up your most anticipated read from your local bookstore or at the library!

Offside by Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Illustrated by Mari Costa | GRAPHIC NOVEL

Al, Nicky, Palmer, Fabiola, and Seba are all on the school soccer team. But that doesn't mean they're all on the same side.

For the first time ever, the Jackson Middle School soccer team is going co-ed thanks to Nicky's determination. But Al is going to do whatever he can to keep the girls off the team, just the way his father wants.

When Al and Nicky's rivalry threatens to tear the team apart, everyone's going to have to pick sides. That is, until Palmer looks into why Nicky joined the team, and he starts to realize that there's a bigger problem than what's on the field. .

And maybe the only way to truly win is together.

With text in English and Spanish, Offside features the groundbreaking format used in Invisible, paired with engaging, accessible, and entertaining storytelling. This Breakfast Club-inspired story by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Mari Costa is a must-have graphic novel about soccer, friendship, and what it really means to work as a team.

Every Version of You by Natalie Messier | FICTION

Joey Vasquez’s life is the definition of good on paper. At thirty-two, she’s a lawyer on the cusp of making partner, she owns her house in Los Angeles, and she almost keeps pace with her doctor sister in her parents’ eyes.

When she reluctantly arrives at the very couple-y dinner party hosted by Elijah Aarons, the best friend she’s secretly pined after for fourteen years, she’s dismayed to find that the last person on earth she’d ever want to see again is also there: Alex Aquino. Your basic rich Silicon Beach bro asshole. The night couldn’t possibly get worse—and then she dies.

When Joey is given a second chance at life, she finds herself eighteen again, the year she first met both Elijah and Alex. Armed with memories from her first life, Joey is certain she’s come back to finally convince the one man she ever loved to love her back—so why does she find herself strangely drawn to the man she thought she hated?

One Hundred Guinea Pigs by Gustavo Rodríguez | Translated by Daniel Hahn | FICTION

Eufrasia Vela is a caregiver--it's not just her job. But when she begins working with Doña Carmen, a bedridden elderly woman who spends her days staring out the window at her now-obstructed view of the sea, she confronts the limits to her ability to help. That is, until Doña Carmen makes a big, last request: to transform her caretaking from helping her stay alive to helping her die.

A good death has much in common with a good life, after all, and incapacity, loneliness, and isolation are devastations that a compassionate friend can help ease. Dignity, community, respect, and generosity--they're what Eufrasia offers her clients, and what their friendship offers her. One Hundred Guinea Pigs is the lifegiving, warmhearted novel about euthanasia you didn't know you needed.

The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | FICTION

Handsome con artist Ulises has long charmed lonely women via letters in order to steal their money, but money is hard to come by in 1940s Mexico. Ulises knows his looks won’t last forever, and he’s desperate to get his hands on a real fortune.

He thinks he’s found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse in picturesque Veracruz. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn’t expect. The woman has a niece, Inés, who is as observant as she is desperate to escape her aunt’s household.

When Inés discovers Ulises’s true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. They’ll convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast, and clean. But Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagines. She harbors secrets. And although Ulises does not believe in true romance, Inés is more alluring than he bargained for. Suddenly, a simple plan may become perilously complicated.

Venture into the streets of a small town where a patina of convention and good manners conceals a cauldron of avarice and lust.

It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories by Sigrid Nunez | FICTION

Over the course of thirty years, Sigrid Nunez has become one of contemporary fiction’s most distinctive voices, producing nine penetrating, profound novels celebrated by fans and critics alike. Revered for their warm, unadorned style, Nunez’s books are “as sophisticated as they are straightforward” (New York Times Magazine), melding a “wry, withering wit” (NPR) with “explosions of pathos” (Washington Post) to conjure “world[s] of insight into death, grief, art, and love” (Wall Street Journal).

But she has not, until now, produced a book of stories. In It Will Come Back to You, Nunez brings together thirteen of her best stories from the decades-long sweep of her career, tracing the origins of her style and her remarkable artistic range. Moving from the momentous to the mundane, Nunez maintains her expert balance between gravity and levity while probing the philosophical questions that illuminate her work.

The Past Pursues Us Like Detectives, Debt Collectors, Thieves by Juan Pablo Villalobos | Translated by Daniel Hahn | FICTION

After many peaceful years abroad, JP has returned home to Mexico to visit family and help care for his elderly mother. Instead, however, he finds himself at a bar, his fist inches from the face of Everardo, his sort-of childhood friend. He lands the blow and runs home. But when Everardo turns up dead the next morning, JP soon finds himself blamed for a murder that he (probably) didn't commit. What's going on? Can Lagos really be more full of drugs, extortion, and fraud than when he left? Why is everyone offering him pills? How's he ever going to pay for his mother's medical treatment? It wasn't even that good a punch!

Weaving outright hilarity with wry tenderness, The Past Pursues Us is a fast-paced and funny whodunit that lovingly speaks to the stories we tell ourselves about home: about what changes, what doesn't, and what should.

The Red Earth by Morgana Kretzmann | Translated by Daniel Hahn | FICTION

On the lush Brazil-Argentina border, greed runs deep. A proposed hydroelectric dam spells doom for both the vibrant ecosystems of the Turvo State Park and the people who call it home. Park ranger Chaya refuses to stand by while her beloved land is razed. Her estranged cousin, Preta, a hardened leader, fights her own battle, walking a thin line between survival and poaching traditions. Then there’s Olga, the prodigal journalist, burdened by guilt and the secrets she left behind. Their paths collide as the encroaching threat pulls them into a fierce battle against corrupt politicians, shadowy smugglers, and the ghosts of their shared past.

Loyalties are tested, old rivalries flare, and alliances arise in the unlikeliest places. And at the heart of it all, a family legacy, shrouded in myth and trauma, surfaces with devastating consequences. Echoing recent episodes in Brazilian history, The Red Earth is a whirling torrent of drama, sisterhood, and sacrifice, revealing the real-life stakes and cost of protecting the rainforest and its inhabitants.

Author-Illustrator Q&A: Cynthia De La Torre Brings Us ‘Flowers for Tía Luz María’

In Flowers for Tía Luz María, we meet a young girl named Galina. The tearful young girl watches from a window as her Tía Luz María is laid to rest in the cemetery. Galina is afraid. She has never had anyone close to her pass away. Alone with her parrot, Cantinflas, she asks what will happen to her aunt. She wonders aloud if Tía Luz María will turn into a scary calavera. She then shudders at the thought.

Galina tries to push her sadness out of sight, placing items that remind her of her aunt high up on a closet shelf. But the next day, something strange happens. The radio switches to another station and plays a song that Tía Luz María used to love. And later, a box of her aunt’s belongings falls off the shelf. The memories begin to flood Galina. Warm, beautiful memories she shared with her aunt.

Out July 21 from Quill Tree Books, Flowers for Tía Luz María by debut author-illustrator Cynthia De La Torre is a tender exploration of bereavement and how one child comes to terms with her own experience in grief. It’s also about the realization that there is space for joy while mourning the loss of a loved one. “We can still remember our loved ones even after they’ve passed on, even if it’s sad and there are so many unknowns,” De La Torre told us.

De La Torre spoke with Latinx in Publishing about overcoming one’s fear, her gorgeous cut paper art, and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Amaris Castillo: Congratulations on Flowers for Tía Luz María. I understand this book was inspired by Día de los Muertos. Growing up, what was your relationship to the holiday?

Cynthia De La Torre: It was definitely inspired by Día de Muertos. I am Mexican American. Both my parents were born in Mexico, and they came here to the United States when they were both around 10 years old. They always taught us so much about our culture, and to feel pride for it. But we actually never really celebrated Día de Muertos; I didn’t learn about it till I was a bit older. And I loved it. I thought it was such a beautiful tradition. It’s a wonderful way to honor and remember our loved ones who have passed away. Once I got married and had kids, that’s when I started celebrating it and putting out ofrendas for our loved ones. It was such a beautiful way for my kids to get to know relatives who had passed away and who they never got to meet. But, in a way, they feel like they know them from those stories that we share with them every year when we put up the ofrenda.

This year we’re going to honor our cat who recently passed away. Our kids were heartbroken. We had him for 12 years, but it did bring solace to them in thinking, We’re going to remember him and honor him in that way as well. October 27 is actually the day where you honor your pets for Día de Muertos.

“I wanted kids and adults to know that, even if someone passes away, you’re still allowed to remember them in a joyful way.”

AC: When we meet Galina, she appears terrified. She thinks her aunt, who just passed away, will turn into a calavera. There is this fear that Galina seems to have about what happens next. As you wrote this book, what message were you hoping to send by positioning a child's fear around death in this way?

CD: When I was writing it, I didn’t realize that I was very much like Galina, because I didn’t have anyone close to me pass away until I was maybe a freshman or a sophomore. My uncle passed away when he was 32. It was really unexpected. I remember going to the viewing and not wanting to look at the body, because I was so terrified that he was going to look different. I remember being afraid that that image would supersede any other image I had of him. So it was very similar, but I just didn’t realize it till afterwards. 

When family gathers after the funeral, there’s food and there’s music. In many ways, it’s very joyful, similar to the Día de Muertos, where it’s more of a celebration of the person. There are stories being told, and there’s a lot of laughter in spite of all the sadness. That’s when I realized that we can still remember our loved ones even after they’ve passed on, even if it’s sad and there are so many unknowns, but we're allowed to feel joy, you know. I wanted kids and adults to know that, even if someone passes away, you’re still allowed to remember them in a joyful way.

AC: I want to talk about your art. You are the author-illustrator for this book, and much of the art appears to be cut paper art. Can you describe for us what the illustration-making process was like for you?

CD: It is cut paper art. I made the book a little bit different than how I normally work, because I wanted the editing process to be easier. I used a lot of colored cardstock paper, but I also used tissue paper, vellum paper, and felt—for the grass, to give it more of that grassy texture, and for animals. I add color with colored pencils. I then piece the different elements together. For instance, for a character—she has her shirt, her skirt, her boots. I put the different layers together, photograph the different elements and then upload them on Photoshop. It’s like basically piecing them together like a puzzle. That allowed for editing to be a lot faster, in case something needed to be moved. That was the main process. 

My main goal was to meet my deadlines, but also to produce beautiful quality work. I was able to meet my deadlines, and hopefully I was able to produce the best quality work that I could at that point.

AC: As I read this book, I felt many themes: how to overcome fear, changes in perception, the power of love and of memories. What about for you—which theme stands out most to you and why?

CD: I love that you got all those things from the book. The most important one for me was definitely overcoming your fears. Growing up, I was a very fearful child. I was afraid of the dark, I was afraid of el cucuy. I was afraid of people. I was very socially awkward—still am, but even more so as a kid. The funny thing is, I love scary stories and scary movies. I found solace and comfort in those books because, a lot of times, kids were the protagonists and they were overcoming fears that were a lot more scary than anything I ever encountered. And usually there was a happy ending or some kind of resolution, and they were able to overcome those obstacles and those fears. It made me see that, if they can do that, then I can definitely overcome my tiny little fears that I’m experiencing. 

I write a lot of spooky books, and a lot of them do deal with ghosts in the afterlife. Hopefully my work helps kids know that, even when something appears to be scary, when they lift the veil and see what’s really behind that, they’ll see that it’s not as scary as it looks. They, too, can be brave and overcome whatever fears they’re encountering.

AC: What do you hope readers take away from your book?

CD: My main goal is for kids to be able to see themselves reflected in my books and my work. Growing up, I remember not having a lot of access to books that featured people like myself. It was very rare. For a long time, I thought that it was because our stories weren’t worthy of mention, that we didn’t do anything important. It was a very isolating feeling, and I just don’t want kids to feel that way. I want them to feel pride in where they come from, and to learn about Mexican culture. And if they’re not Mexican and have a different background, to learn to respect our culture. I think diverse books are so important, and I try to share them with my kids as much as possible because I want them to be well-rounded humans who respect other people. I just hope that kids can find themselves in my books. And feel proud.

---

Cynthia De La Torre was born and raised in Southern California. She writes and illustrates cut-paper art picture books that teach kids about self-acceptance, finding their place in the world, and accepting other people’s differences. She loves all things weird, whimsical, and magical. You can find her at cynthiadelatorre.com.

Amaris Castillo is an award-winning journalist and writer. Her debut book, Bodega Stories, will be published in September 2026 from the University Press of Florida. You can find her at amariscastillo.com.

July 2026 Latinx Releases

On Sale July 7

In the Wake of the Ruined by Kalie Cassidy | Fiction

Imogen Nel, a powerful Siren, can no longer hide her monstrous abilities. She has claimed her ancestral crown and new grotesque magic, and now the corrupted bond she shares with the ancient deity Eusia is stronger than ever. Though Imogen is determined to sever it, doing so is no easy feat. The threat of war looms. Shifting alliances, a hunger for magic, and her feelings for Theodore, King of Varya, attempt to thwart her at every turn.

Meanwhile, Theodore is battling the strain of his own crown and commitments. When Imogen suddenly appears on his ship, every dutiful resolution he's ever made threatens to snap. As they draw nearer to ending Eusia, lurking dangers and their perilous desire for one another prove nearly insurmountable.

Will the chaos, ruin, and death that Imogen was prophesied to usher into the realm be the end of all things, or the beginning?

Every Version of You by Natalie Messier | FICTION

Joey Vasquez’s life is the definition of good on paper. At thirty-two, she’s a lawyer on the cusp of making partner, she owns her house in Los Angeles, and she almost keeps pace with her doctor sister in her parents’ eyes.

When she reluctantly arrives at the very couple-y dinner party hosted by Elijah Aarons, the best friend she’s secretly pined after for fourteen years, she’s dismayed to find that the last person on earth she’d ever want to see again is also there: Alex Aquino. Your basic rich Silicon Beach bro asshole. The night couldn’t possibly get worse—and then she dies.

When Joey is given a second chance at life, she finds herself eighteen again, the year she first met both Elijah and Alex. Armed with memories from her first life, Joey is certain she’s come back to finally convince the one man she ever loved to love her back—so why does she find herself strangely drawn to the man she thought she hated?

How to Train Your Evil Robot by Joy McCullough | Illustrated by Eduardo Medeiros | CHILDREN’S

How to Train Your Evil Robot is the wildly funny picture book that helps kids make sense of the AI world they're already living in -- without any of the anxiety, and with all of the laughs. One kid, one skeptical dog, and one very overconfident robot walk readers through what AI can do, what it can't, and why being human is still pretty great.

Just for Today by Charlotte Agell | Illustrated by Ana Ramírez González | CHILDREN’S

Elba worries a lot. Sometimes her worries keep her up at night.

Norris knows that worry can come from telling yourself the wrong story.

Together, he and Elba tell a new story, one without any worry. But what will happen when their story launches them on an unforeseen adventure?

This gentle exploration of a universal feeling reveals that, while stories can take unexpected turns, we have the power to create our own happy endings, and good friends can help us stay grounded in whatever comes today.

Teachers in the Wild by Brad Davidson | Illustrated by Rachel Más Davidson | CHILDREN’S

At some point, you're bound to encounter your teacher in the wild. It's okay to be excited, awkward, or just plain confused. After all, you've never seen them outside of school. But teachers are just like us--they go to the dentist, cheer at soccer games, and take their pets to the vet.

So, don't panic! With these few simple, amusing strategies, you'll be ready to handle any surprise teacher sightings like a pro.

Husband and wife duo Brad Davidson and Rachel Más Davidson explore a hilariously familiar experience in this playful and quirky guide to navigating unexpected encounters with your teacher outside of their natural habitat.

Nice to Eat You by Karen Yin |Illustrated by Carolina Coroa | CHILDREN’S

Get ready for the spookiest time of the year with this Halloween story about a friendly yet sneaky witch who lures a group of children to her house. The witch’s verbal gaffes keep the kids guessing at every turn. Does this witch have their best interests at heart—or are they the meal?

An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton | FICTION

When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her.

Offside by Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Illustrated by Mari Costa | GRAPHIC NOVEL

Al, Nicky, Palmer, Fabiola, and Seba are all on the school soccer team. But that doesn't mean they're all on the same side.

For the first time ever, the Jackson Middle School soccer team is going co-ed thanks to Nicky's determination. But Al is going to do whatever he can to keep the girls off the team, just the way his father wants.

When Al and Nicky's rivalry threatens to tear the team apart, everyone's going to have to pick sides. That is, until Palmer looks into why Nicky joined the team, and he starts to realize that there's a bigger problem than what's on the field. . .

And maybe the only way to truly win is together.

On Sale July 14

To Dance the Moon and Stars by Tasia M S & Barbara Perez Marquez | GRAPHIC NOVEL

Eighteen-year-old Myra has spent her entire life training to succeed her grandmother as high priestess. But with her ascension rapidly approaching, she’s worried about the path ahead. How can she become the herald of the god Alrun when he forbids the thing she loves most: dancing? 

Her people can’t afford her self-doubt, though. A peace treaty is dependent on Myra receiving Alrun’s wisdom, and the forces of darkness are seeping through the barrier between worlds. The only source of light Myra has is her childhood best friend, the crown prince. Without his support and . . . love, she may not be able to stop what’s coming. 

Myra must dig deep into her kingdom’s forgotten history for answers, even if it means defying the law. But the key to saving her people may require her to make the biggest sacrifice of all.

Ruinous Ends by I. V. Marie | YOUNG ADULT

The Decennial is over, but for the students of Blackwood Academy, the fight for the afterlife has just begun.

The infamous school was hiding more secrets—and lies—than any of the Decennial’s participants could have imagined. And there’s still so much that remains buried beneath its ancient foundations. Now the future of the academy, and all the souls within it, rests in the hands of six former pupils:

The charmer and the golden boy . . .
The traitor and the girl desperate to save her . . .
The Chosen One and the one who would choose her over and over again . . .

Any of them could be the hero the afterlife needs . . . or the villain who will destroy it for good. Because the truth is, Blackwood’s biggest secret has yet to come to light—and when it does, it will shake the institution to its core.

What Lies Beneath the Flowers by Natasha Díaz | YOUNG ADULT

It girl Estella Aubergine is everything Pippa and Bidi are not: wealthy, popular, influential, missing. Finding her and collecting the reward money Estella’s reclusive mother is offering could turn their lives around. They’d be able to pay off the overdue bills on Pippa’s family’s store, and all the media attention would only help Bidi’s chances of becoming the youngest elected official in San Francisco. 

But to uncover what happened to Estella, they’ll have to enter her wealthy world. Namely, the prestigious Beaumont Academy, where Estella’s classmates and teachers all seem to have dark secrets and enough money to hide them. 

The deeper Pippa and Bidi dig, the more questions come up about Estella’s disappearance. Worse, someone seems to be clocking their every step. And as cracks form in the girls’ friendship, they begin to see that maybe the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Captain Emotions and the Superpower Pack by Ashley Zomalt & Kacy Brubaker | Illustrated by Juliana Castro | CHILDREN’S

With vibrant illustrations, relatable characters, and thoughtful conversation starters, this heartwarming story is a fun and empowering tool for kids, parents, teachers, and counselors that encourages young readers to understand their feelings, celebrate their strengths, and see the superhero inside themselves. We All Have SuperPowers! is designed as a series and tells the story of four young children and shows how their social emotional strengths help them navigate their days and obstacles. Captain Emotions and the SuperPower Pack is the first book in the series and introduces the characters and their first big challenge to overcome.

Bubblegum Shoes: The Big Sleepover by Goldy Moldavsky | MIDDLE GRADE

Normally, Maya Mendoza wouldn't be caught dead at school on a Saturday, but it happens to be the most epic night ever: Marlowe Middle’s big sleepover! The Bubblegum Shoes detective agency is taking a night off from solving cases to enjoy the Battle of the Bands, the all-you-can-eat candy, and the limited adult supervision...or so they thought. 

When the girls learn classmate and rising YouTube star Hunter Holloway is being blackmailed to drop out of the singing competition, they have to help. But what was supposed to be an easy case quickly turns complicated when the Gumshoes discover an illegal pillow-fighting ring, battling Broadway divas, and counterfeit art—not to mention Hunter seems to be hiding a few secrets of his own. 

Can these slumber party sleuths solve the case before the fun is over? Or will this sticky situation spell lights out for Hunter's career and the Bubblegum Shoes’ reputation?

It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories by Sigrid Nunez | FICTION

Over the course of thirty years, Sigrid Nunez has become one of contemporary fiction’s most distinctive voices, producing nine penetrating, profound novels celebrated by fans and critics alike. Revered for their warm, unadorned style, Nunez’s books are “as sophisticated as they are straightforward” (New York Times Magazine), melding a “wry, withering wit” (NPR) with “explosions of pathos” (Washington Post) to conjure “world[s] of insight into death, grief, art, and love” (Wall Street Journal).

But she has not, until now, produced a book of stories. In It Will Come Back to You, Nunez brings together thirteen of her best stories from the decades-long sweep of her career, tracing the origins of her style and her remarkable artistic range. Moving from the momentous to the mundane, Nunez maintains her expert balance between gravity and levity while probing the philosophical questions that illuminate her work.

The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | FICTION

Handsome con artist Ulises has long charmed lonely women via letters in order to steal their money, but money is hard to come by in 1940s Mexico. Ulises knows his looks won’t last forever, and he’s desperate to get his hands on a real fortune.

He thinks he’s found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse in picturesque Veracruz. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn’t expect. The woman has a niece, Inés, who is as observant as she is desperate to escape her aunt’s household.

When Inés discovers Ulises’s true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. They’ll convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast, and clean. But Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagines. She harbors secrets. And although Ulises does not believe in true romance, Inés is more alluring than he bargained for. Suddenly, a simple plan may become perilously complicated.

One Hundred Guinea Pigs by Gustavo Rodríguez | Translated by Daniel Hahn | FICTION

Eufrasia Vela is a caregiver--it's not just her job. But when she begins working with Doña Carmen, a bedridden elderly woman who spends her days staring out the window at her now-obstructed view of the sea, she confronts the limits to her ability to help. That is, until Doña Carmen makes a big, last request: to transform her caretaking from helping her stay alive to helping her die.

A good death has much in common with a good life, after all, and incapacity, loneliness, and isolation are devastations that a compassionate friend can help ease. Dignity, community, respect, and generosity--they're what Eufrasia offers her clients, and what their friendship offers her. One Hundred Guinea Pigs is the lifegiving, warmhearted novel about euthanasia you didn't know you needed.

Happy Birthday, José and Feliz by Susan Rose & Silvia López | Illustrated by Gloria Félix | CHILDREN’S

On his sister Sofi's birthday, José realizes that everyone deserves a special celebration—even his furry best friend, Feliz. Determined to give his dog the fiesta he deserves, José gets a great idea: He will share his own birthday with Feliz!

Filled with love, laughter, and a few howls, this charming story showcases the joy of sharing special moments with those we love, no matter how many legs they have. With delightful illustrations and a glossary of Spanish words and phrases, young readers will enjoy learning a new language while celebrating the universal themes of friendship and family.

On Sale July 21

Fly, Pajarito, Fly! by Alexandra Alessandri | Illustrated by Dana Sanmar | CHILDREN’S

The sun sets as a child and her mother take their evening stroll past Don Jorge's ice cream truck and the casita with the twinkling lights. They watch the riot of pájaros flocking and flying through the sky. "All you need is wings," says Mami. But the girl believes she'll never be brave enough to fly like that. Mami sings and twirls the girl into the air. Together, they lift off and fly through the night sky, seeing their whole neighborhood and city from above, feeling the freedom of flight. And when the girl is ready to return to Mami's arms? "All you need is wings to bring you back home."

This is a story about the little, everyday moments that make life magical.

Adventure in the City of Stories by Emma Otheguy | Illustrated by Poly Bernatene | MIDDLE GRADE

Cousins Jorge, Camila, and Siggy never imagined that dusty old puppets and a mysterious book would launch them into a time-traveling adventure. But when they discover their aunt has treasures belonging to Pura Belpré, the trailblazing Latina librarian and storyteller, they’re transported back to 1930s New York City. Their mission? Race against time to return Pura’s puppets and a signed first edition of her book, proving their aunt isn’t a thief.

The past is full of danger, though. A powerful woman will stop at nothing to steal the book, the cousins’ nosy neighbor is snooping around, and the hardship of the Great Depression is all around them. Luckily Jorge, Camila, and Siggy meet Antonia, a fierce Puerto Rican girl fighting injustice against her community.

The cousins will need courage, quick thinking, and a little help from history to protect Pura Belpré’s legacy, clear their aunt’s name, and make it back home. Can they pull it off before time runs out?

I Didn't Do It by Elle Gonzalez Rose | YOUNG ADULT

Dina Soto is used to laying low. Ever since her father confessed to murdering two of his students, Dina's mom has kept the family on a short leash to avoid drawing any more attention. But when cute, popular, and incredibly sweet Kai Thompson invites Dina to spend the weekend with him and his friends at his cabin, Dina thinks maybe being noticed wouldn't be so bad.

But once at the cabin, Dina realizes one night won't change her reputation as the daughter of a killer-especially not when people start turning up dead. Told in part through police evidence, the truth of what happened that night unravels alongside long-held secrets. But one thing remains true: Dina is adamant she didn't do it. Now, she just has to prove it.

Armor for Liars by S. E. Grove | YOUNG ADULT

In a world where magic is drawn from the realm of the dead, enchanters—always men—go to great lengths to steal it. Voyaging to the spirit realm, an enchanter will claim a dead woman’s spirit as his own and make her a servant, a tool for his own magical ends. Enchanters maintain great secrecy around their practices, so only a wealthy elite have access to this power: members of a secret society shrouded within Commonwealth University, the nation’s premiere institution for the study of enchantment.

When Sam—the son of islander immigrants of modest means—dared to use magic to blend into the blueblood world of Commonwealth, it cost him his life. Now a spirit, he’s determined to avenge his murder and uncover the secrets of the Cisneros Society from beyond the grave.

When Sam encounters Clementine Quinn, a young woman disguised as a male student at Commonwealth, he quickly sees that Clem is putting herself in grave danger at the school. But as he tries to warn her of the peril, it becomes clear that his past and her fate are inextricably entwined. To avenge his murder and prevent hers, they’ll need to help one another and thereby prove, ultimately, that friendship and love can transcend everything, even death.

Dinosaurs to Dragons: The Lore and Science of Mythical Creatures by Elizabeth Shreeve | Illustrated by Violeta Encarnación | MIDDLE GRADE

What if we lived in a world with fire-breathing dragons? Or enigmatic, alluring mermaids? How about rainbow-nibbling unicorns? These fabled beasts aren’t as far from us as we think. After all, their legends had to have come from somewhere…

Join us as we weave together legendary tales and new scientific findings to uncover connections between real and mythical creatures. Delving into the past, we’ll see how our ancestors took what they found in the world and created the beloved fantastical creatures we dream about today.

Could the skull of a protoceratops have inspired the hooked beak of a griffin? From manatee to mermaid, heron to phoenix, we’ll trace the truth behind these fantastical creatures and make some new discoveries along the way!

A Taxi for Everyone: How Roy Velásquez Fought for Equality by Debbie Zapata | Illustrated by Laura Sandoval Herrera | CHILDREN’S

Roy Velásquez was the son of Mexican immigrants, living in Austin, Texas, at the height of segregation. Roy knew
the hardships faced by people of color because of the insurmountable policies put into place. What was anyone to do? Even just simple acts can go a long way. But Roy went further than that. . . .

In segregated Austin, people of color weren't allowed in taxis, and the streetcar ended far from their homes. So Roy borrowed five dollars from a friend, purchased a taxi permit and a tank of gas, and drove people of color wherever they needed to go.

Before long, one lone taxi became a fleet. For over seventy-five years, Roy's Taxi Service helped to fight segregation and poll taxes, and grow Austin into a community for everyone. Roy's story is a reminder that we can all affect change and that inclusion is our strength.

Take It to Your Grave by Louangie Bou-Montes | FICTION

Maximiliano Rafael Guerrero Lopez “Max” has been dead for 30 years. He’s stuck as a sixteen-year-old in his childhood bedroom with no memory of how he died, and no company aside from rotting floor boards and mildew-ridden guitars.

Joaquín Felix Ladrón “Joaquín” is a high schooler who's desperate to experience something paranormal—he’d do anything to even catch a glimpse of a ghost, even if it means sacrificing his relationship with his boyfriend.

When Joaquín goes on a ghost hunt at an abandoned house that's rumored to be haunted, he and Max find their fates becoming intertwined in ways neither of them expected. But, as Max’s powers begin to grow stronger, it becomes clear that their tentative friendship may just prove to be fatal...

The Past Pursues Us Like Detectives, Debt Collectors, Thieves by Juan Pablo Villalobos | Translated by Daniel Hahn | FICTION

After many peaceful years abroad, JP has returned home to Mexico to visit family and help care for his elderly mother. Instead, however, he finds himself at a bar, his fist inches from the face of Everardo, his sort-of childhood friend. He lands the blow and runs home. But when Everardo turns up dead the next morning, JP soon finds himself blamed for a murder that he (probably) didn't commit. What's going on? Can Lagos really be more full of drugs, extortion, and fraud than when he left? Why is everyone offering him pills? How's he ever going to pay for his mother's medical treatment? It wasn't even that good a punch!

On Sale July 28

When the Witch Wrote Back! by Nathan Christopher | Illustrated by Pablo Pino | CHILDREN’S

Someone new has moved in next door, and Jake is pretty sure that only one kind of neighbor would be unpacking a cauldron, broomstick, and black cat... Then Jake gets an idea! Surely a Witch will have a spell to help him plan, prepare, and clean for his upcoming Halloween party! When he writes letters requesting her magical help, will Jake get all that he hopes for? Or will the Witch use her powers to teach him a valuable lesson in this delightfully charming story about the Halloween...when the Witch wrote back!

Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli | FICTION

This story begins when a mother and her daughter take off on a trip. It is a summer of rapidly changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They’ve landed in Sicily, near the ancient ruins where the mother’s grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. The narrator’s marriage has collapsed, her mother is losing her memory, and her daughter is on the threshold of adolescence, starting to ask difficult questions and form complex memories. How do you begin again? the narrator wonders, pondering her family line. How do you begin again if you got the beginning wrong?

While the mother tries to figure out how to reconstruct their lives as a duo—cooking meals side by side, reading out loud to each other, playing chess, bickering and making up—her daughter takes the reins of the story, and their journey soon becomes a quest for origins, not just to the familial past across continents, languages, and generations, but also farther back, to a mythical and even geological past.

The Winds of Maracaibo by María Elena Morán | Translated by Madeline Jones | FICTION

“Elisa left with Camilo.” “Camilo took her out of the country.”

These are the text messages Nina receives while living in the storage room of a university in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she’s cleaning houses to make money to send back home.  

Home is 4,500 miles away, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where the water never runs on Mondays and there’s yet another blackout. Where a trip to the grocery store costs 220 times the minimum wage.  

Home is Elisa, her thirteen-year-old daughter, who loves to run around the house and belt out Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Who should be growing, when instead her waist is shrinking. Home is Graciela, Nina's mother, who lately stays shut up in her room all day talking with her dead, most urgently her beloved husband, Raúl (who’s just as eager to talk back from the grave). 

And what the hell does Camilo think he’s doing now, stealing off with their daughter to the United States of America—the one place Nina most assuredly never wants to call home? 

Five by César Aira | Translated by Chris Andrews | FICTION

Five, selected from over 100 untranslated novels and stories by "the Duchamp of Latin America" (Natasha Wimmer), brings together--each an astonishing work--Margarita: A Memory, The Dream, Musical Brushstrokes, Princess Springtime, and The Hormone Pill. Following a cast of dreamlike characters including cyber nuns, a young princess making ends meet as a hack translator, a newspaper vendor, and General Winter and his sadistic sidekick, the Little Christmas Tree, Five shows the many facets of Aira's master mind as he turns expectations inside-out and gleefully explodes genre conventions.

Second First Dates by Gabriella Gamez | FICTION

After four years of a self-imposed dating hiatus, Leti Maldonado is finally ready to get back on the apps. Dating wasn't really that bad ... right? When she matches with Julian Gutierrez, his profile pic rings the faintest bell. But it isn't until their first date implodes that she remembers why: She's been on this exact date with him before--and it's just as awful the second time.

To make matters worse, she discovers that Julian not only lives in her apartment building ... he's her brother's new roommate. Suddenly, he's everywhere: In the mailroom. In the stairwell. And witness to another one of Leti's terrible first dates.

After one epically bad night, Julian offers to take over her dating accounts. And honestly? He can't do any worse than she has. But as Julian's dating app takeover draws them closer, they might just realize that true love has been right in front of them all along.

The Red Earth by Morgana Kretzmann | Translated by Daniel Hahn | FICTION

On the lush Brazil-Argentina border, greed runs deep. A proposed hydroelectric dam spells doom for both the vibrant ecosystems of the Turvo State Park and the people who call it home. Park ranger Chaya refuses to stand by while her beloved land is razed. Her estranged cousin, Preta, a hardened leader, fights her own battle, walking a thin line between survival and poaching traditions. Then there’s Olga, the prodigal journalist, burdened by guilt and the secrets she left behind. Their paths collide as the encroaching threat pulls them into a fierce battle against corrupt politicians, shadowy smugglers, and the ghosts of their shared past.

Loyalties are tested, old rivalries flare, and alliances arise in the unlikeliest places. And at the heart of it all, a family legacy, shrouded in myth and trauma, surfaces with devastating consequences. Echoing recent episodes in Brazilian history, The Red Earth is a whirling torrent of drama, sisterhood, and sacrifice, revealing the real-life stakes and cost of protecting the rainforest and its inhabitants.

Latinx in Publishing’s Best Books of 2026 (So Far)

It’s that time again! June is nearly over and we couldn’t let it go by without shouting out our favorite books of the year, so far! Luckily for you we read widely and hope you will find something on this list for yourself, a friend, a relative, your book club, you name it. Our list spans from literary fiction to essays to sports (picture book, chapter book, and romance!). Latinx authors are publishing across genres all year round, and we are here for it!

MIGRANT HEART: ESSAYS ABOUT THINGS I CAN’T FORGET BY REYNA GRANDE | ADULT NONFICTION

“Best known for her memoir and historical fiction, Reyna Grande now comes out with Migrant Heart, a collection of essays on her childhood, family, migration, motherhood and writing. She gleefully explains that while she’d written essays previously for other collections, in this one she purposely ignored the rules of writing and honored her narrative instincts. One of her essays is written in playwriting form for fun; another is written like dictionary entries. Different writing formats but all windows into her life, her heart. Reyna also writes about her daughter and her marriage to a white man. A fun addition to this collection is an essay Reyna’s daughter wrote for school about her. This collection is a lovely read. It’s evocative, emotional, inspiring and hopeful. I highly recommend it.”—Maria L. Ferrer, Events Director

¡VIVA VALENZUELA! BY NATHALIE ALONSO, ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN PARRA | PICTURE BOOK

“I want to give flowers to author Nathalie Alonso and illustrator John Parra for their beautiful picture book, ¡Viva Valenzuela!—about the late Mexican professional baseball pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. The book tells the story of what Valenzuela meant for the Mexican and Mexican American communities of Los Angeles. What I appreciated most about this book was how Alonso, an award-winning baseball journalist, employed her expert knowledge in the sport to craft a meaningful story. It is accessible even to those of us who weren’t aware of Valenzuela’s imprint on baseball history. ¡Viva Valenzuela! is also a powerful reminder about representation, and how deeply many of us search for it in others. Representation matters a great deal to adults, too. Bonus points go to the book’s extensive backmatter, including an explainer on what a screwball is.”—Amaris Castillo, Contributing Blogger

LOLA LEVINE RUNS OUT OF STEAM BY MONICA BROWN, ILLUSTRATED BY CHELEN ÉCIJA | CHAPTER BOOK

“This fabulous illustrated chapter book series stars bilingual, biracial second grader Lola, a fierce soccer player with a big heart and creative spirit. Perfect family fun for World Cup fans!”—Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Fundraising Director

MEDEA SANG ME A CORRIDO BY DAHLIA DE LA CERDA, TRANSLATED BY JULIA SANCHES AND HEATHER CLEARY | ADULT FICTION

“Dahlia de la Cerda became an instant favorite after I picked up the acclaimed short story collection, Resevoir Bitches, last year. With her follow-up novel, Medea Sang Me a Corrido, she’s an undeniable force right now—a unique voice in Latin American literature, a celebration of punky girls, rough around the edges how I like it. Don’t sleep on Dahlia—or keep one eye open if you do.”—Andrea Morales, Board Member

RUNNING HOME TO YOU BY SAMANTHA SALDIVAR | ADULT FICTION

“I tore through Running Home to You. Equal parts slow-burn love story and poignant meditation on queer becoming, Samantha Saldivar cements herself as a queer romance writer to watch.”—Irene Vázquez, Communications Co-Director

CITIZENSHIP: NOTES ON AN AMERICAN MYTH BY DAISY HERNÁNDEZ | ADULT NONFICTION

“I am normally a fiction reader, but since I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. And I am so glad I did! Hernández distills the longtime mess that is U.S. immigration policy, swiftly and effectively illustrating it as a form of racism, and weaving in her compelling personal history, because of course, for so many of us, immigration is personal. Both a feat of storytelling and an impressive work of scholarship, this is a must-read for the moment, with all the hallmarks of an enduring classic.”—Toni Kirkpatrick, Chair

Author Interview: 'Firesnake' by Donna Barba Higuera

Firesnake by Donna Barba Higuera is the third and concluding installment of the powerful Cuentista Series. The story revolves around Itzel and her community of Saganites who receive a surprising message from planet Earth, a planet whom they thought was a thing of the past. Itzel, heir and granddaughter to the legendary Petra Peña, feels there is a lot to live up to while struggling to assist her community. New monsters, adventures, knowledge, and generations await, prepare yourself for the exciting novel, Firesnake. 

Yvonne Tapia: It’s fantastic to have you here again, Donna! I’m so excited to speak about Firesnake. Your story touches on the storytelling theme – during the beginning of the book, we’re introduced to the main protagonist Itzel, and you immediately mention the beloved Petra Peña, who started the Cuentista series. Readers [learn] that Petra Peña passed on [some of] Earth’s famous storytelling to the people of Sagan, such as A Wrinkle in Time. I love that. Could you please elaborate more on the importance of passing down stories either as “fractured” or “retold” by someone?

Donna Barba Higuera: Thank you! I’ve actually thought a lot about this recently, about the stories that we pass along and the legacy that we leave. I also think a lot about which stories work and which don’t, and I think oftentimes as writers, if there’s a book or a story that we love, sometimes we will write an ode to that story. We will recreate something with our imagination or mix stories together. For stories that don’t work, I think, “I can maybe rewrite that and do a better job.” I thought about kids who are reading my books now, who may either decide one day that they want to write books, or write science fiction or fantasy, and also kids who might read my book and say “I would’ve done this differently, I would’ve put this in,” and that’s good too. 

Not every book is for every reader, but kids who will be able to say “I could do it better than she did,” and then one day they’ll take my books off the shelf and put those books up. I think that’s the important part about passing along the books of our childhood, that I had. The books you mentioned are the ones that made me want to be a writer.  I do hope that there might be a few kids out there who experience the same thing with these books.

Photo credit: Yvonne Tapia

Yvonne Tapia: That’s so great to know, and I relate with you in that A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books as well, I actually wrote a college paper on it. [A great message A Wrinkle in Time has] is to maintain the joy of reading, family, [identity], good mechanisms to keep you grounded. 

Donna Barba Higuera: Right, and A Wrinkle In Time was published over 50 years ago and it was groundbreaking, and it me, a young girl who lived in the Central San Joaquin Valley, in the desert, took me across the universe. I got to go to a place that could only possibly be in my imagination, and it was so magical and I think that is what it gave to a lot of kids.

Yvonne Tapia: Yes. As [readers continue through Firesnake, they learn that], it is the norm for parents to actually pull their kids out of school, and have those kids become “worker bees” or similar. What inspired you to incorporate that into Firesnake? 

Donna Barba Higuera: My grandmother, and even my father sometimes, would go to work at times in either the oil fields or the agricultural fields. It was very much a part of the people in the Central Valley of California and so when we look at the characters, I think you’re talking about Alebrijes, those kids worked in the fields. But also in Firensnake, the kids who at a certain age went to work in the fields, that was absolutely inspired by the children of migrant workers – that is part of their life. I think now there is a little more stability and kids can stay in one spot, but a lot of times kids would move and migrate with the crops. So [those kids] weren’t able to stay in school, and this was kind of an ode to those kids who didn’t get to stay in school. In Firesnake, just like those children at a certain age, they have to go work in the fields. So I really wanted to get the feeling of that and what it meant in a society that that’s what your future is going to bring – a life in the fields.

Yvonne Tapia: That is really powerful and relatable to the present day as some kids still don’t have access to education, and they have to find the means to [gain access to learning]. [In all three books in the Cuentista Series], the characters have to find a way to get food as well. It’s great how you incorporated the themes of poverty, marginalization, systemic oppression, and social inequality throughout the Cuentista world. 

Speaking of education, you also introduce new vocabulary to us as well, with words such as “librex,” which ties into the theme of the power of words. This is essential and ties in with the current rise of artificial intelligence (AI). How did you create these new words for us?

Donna Barba Higuera: In The Last Cuentista, I used a lot of that terminology, such as “story generators,” in reference to AI, and there was no such thing as AI related stories. [AI] came a few years after that. What strange timing for that to be in my book, and then it came to happen, I promise I’m not psychic. I wrote about something that scared me back then, so a lot of the words and vocabulary that I used are just things that came to my mind as I was writing. Oftentimes, it may not make sense, but then I rewrite some of it to make it [understandable]. Sometimes technology is strange – when writing science fiction, it can happen at a very quick pace and sometimes it comes to be that way in the story. A lot of my writing when it seems fantastical while I’m writing it, sometimes it will come to be. For example, in Alebrijes, talking about “the transfer of consciousness,” and now they’re talking about these things in our current world. 

Photo credit: Yvonne Tapia

A lot of the ideas in Firesnake, about how one would travel from one place to the other and use devices that have anti-gravity, those things are really happening. It’s fun to write those and a lot of times the editor or even the interpreter will say, “I don’t know how to change this word to Spanish” and then I say “Then come up with something, there’s no rules for this.” In Firesnake, I make up names for vehicles, and that’s the fun part for me – using my imagination to just make stuff up and make up words. Each person can come up with a different terminology for some of the things that I said. I love writing in the realm of science fiction because you can just make stuff up.

Yvonne Tapia: Absolutely, and it relates to how all languages we speak are made up and passed down through generations, which is another theme of this series – generational knowledge. 

We also learn of a plot twist that has Itzel feeling a certain way about our beloved Cuentista Petra Peña. This highlights how good communication is key throughout our interactions, from family to friends and onto the next generation. What inspired you to give us that plot twist involving Itzel’s mother.

Donna Barba Higuera: I’ll try not to give away spoilers – when I wrote that, it was very difficult to write, because Petra is very beloved, people love that character. Having Firesnake’s main character, Itzel, who resents Petra in some ways, and I won’t go into why but eventually, I was like, “Okay, if I do this, there will be readers who have read the series who are immediately not going to like Itzel, because the readers will say, ‘oh, how can she not like Petra, how can she resent her?’’ So I had to figure out how to do it in a way that was true to Petra remaining to what she loved, and also Itzel loving something else equally and hopefully the reader will go, “Okay, I can understand both points of view and why that would happen.” 

Then when the plot twist happens, you realize it’s even more complicated than what their motivations are since there are other things going on. When I initially started writing, it didn’t have that plot twist. Once I added that plot twist, I had to go back and rewrite other parts of the book. Once I opened that up, the entire story opened up; the middle of the book, the end of the book. All of that opened up and I had to be careful to reveal everything at the right time.

Yvonne Tapia: That goes hand-in-hand with how much it takes for authors to develop the story. I love that you mention this for our aspiring authors because it’s good exercise to know that sometimes you don’t know the whole story. I was really surprised as I read the first chapters, thinking, “No way, why Petra?” 

Donna Barba Higuera: As you know, writers will typically turn in a synopsis. When I would give my editor a synopsis, I’d tell him, “Remember, this is probably not where the story is going to conclude.” It’s so helpful when editors trust you to [flourish] the story well. It’s also equally important for editors to give space for all the wild ideas writers have. 

Yvonne Tapia: What inspired the creatures that you introduced to us in Firesnake?

Donna Barba Higuera: In the first book of the series, The Last Cuentista, there were snapshots of the planet Sagan, where Petra saw a flower, a couple of creatures. Then, I thought, “Okay, what would she not have seen?” While I was writing Firesnake I got to explore that. Growing up in the desert, there was a concern for Gila monsters and other myths mentioned, and I got to turn them into something from another planet. I got to make things fly, have the imagination wander.

Yvonne Tapia: When you speak about concern, that also ties in to Alebrijes, where Leandro and Gabi, were under Tia Lula’s management and they find out that the only reason they were listening to her was because she instilled fear in them. 

Donna Barba Higuera: Exactly. In Firesnake, the stories of why you couldn’t go to places because monsters could harm you were real. In Alebrijes, the characters were the ones who created stories of non-existent monsters and one needs to think about what the motivations are. A lot of it comes down to human nature. Through these books, you realize that the people that you want to be entirely good, sometimes fail. Sometimes the people who you once thought were evil, can do things to redeem themselves. I don’t ever let the reader be entirely comfortable with all the characters since they each have their own flaws. Because I think that oftentimes as a reader, we should be on guard. 

Yvonne Tapia: Very important. How did you decide to combine all the three books together, The Last Cuentista, Alebrijes, and Firesnake? 

Donna Barba Higuera: It was actually hard, and when I wrote Alebrijes, I didn’t think that anyone would realize that it was the same planet Earth from The Last Cuentista. As I wrote Alebrijes I thought, “This is a standalone. People won’t realize that the post-apocalyptic world the Alebrijes characters are living in was from Haley’s comet in The Last Cuentista.” In Alebrijes, I never even say that it’s Earth until the very end of the story.

When I submitted the first draft, Nick asked, “What was the earth-ending disaster that caused the Alebrijes setting?” and I said, “Yeah but it’s not a series, it’s just a totally different character that’s in my imagination.” Then my editor said, “This is a series,” and when I got to the very end of Alebrijes, I said, “What if the people from Earth found a way to send a message to the people of Sagan to tell them that there were survivors on Earth?” So I did it, I wrote an epilogue that had me decide, “Okay well now I have to write a third book.” 

Readers had the questions. Kids were the ones who inspired the third book because kids said, “I wanna know what happens afterwards, after they arrive on Sagan. What was the lifestyle like there?” In The Last Cuentista, there were a lot of chapters that got cut and they were focused on Sagan, so I got to go back and revisit them. But they were all written from Petra’s point-of-view, and Petra is not the main character of Firesnake, therefore I changed up the POV as well. The tone of each book is different because I wanted to give readers different perspectives. 

Yvonne Tapia: You’ve highlighted a lot of generational storytelling and how important it is to keep customs, how did you incorporate Petra’s legacy into Itzel? 

Donna Barba Higuera: That was so fun to do because I had to ask myself when I started writing this book; what parts of Petra’s storytelling would have survived on Sagan? What parts of her culture would’ve permeated? I wanted to show the power of storytelling and in creating new culture and a new way of thinking. It was a little selfish of me as a writer and I wanted to show how [Petra] who I really grew to love represented something for me. Even the people who weren’t from [Petra’s community], those in new settlements knew of Petra’s stories and the stories that she had created on the planet.  

I’d like for readers to think, “Oh! Petra’s culture is on this planet” and then for readers to have it become real to them. I got to create a new planet with my heritage and I love that! That’s the really magical part about being a writer. When I do school visits, students see that they can [be authors as well]. They meet this person in real life and they think, “Oh! She’s a real person who wrote these stories. I can go do that too.” Therefore, it creates that for present and future generations that it is a possibility.

Yvonne Tapia: Beautifully said. Is there a generational custom you’d like to highlight?

Donna Barba Higuera: The time that we spend with our elders is important and the small things that are involved around that. For example, my grandmother and the time I spent with her, where she would just make us Mexican hot chocolate and tell us stories. It’s funny that at first, as a child, I thought it was just my family [that did that], and then to realize – no, this is part of a bigger culture, and these are bigger traditions.

So when I write about those things and then I see people’s reactions, both young and old, stating, “I had those moments with my grandparents too!“ or “I do that with my grandparents too!” and it’s very emotional for people. Those very small things that connect me with someone I love, and you realize that a lot of people have those same moments, and that is so powerful, and it connects us all together. It’s not always a parent, sometimes people just say, “I had that [parent figure] too!”  

A lot of Mexican folklore can be weird and [it’s] good to highlight the lessons learned from them. 

Yvonne Tapia: I also have that in my family! We bond over a chocolate drink, while learning from the elders. What do you hope readers take away from Firesnake?

Donna Barba Higuera: I thought a lot about the end of the book, and without giving too much, there’s so much that transpires from the very opening chapter of The Last Cuentista to the ending chapter of Firesnake. I was very deliberate about how I ended the book and what I ended it with. It begins with storytelling and it ends with storytelling. At first it began with fear and some hope, and now it is trepidation and also hope. While we may not have all the answers, there is still hope for something better. It was important for me to conclude that series that way.

Yvonne Tapia: Woo! It emphasizes on what we have to do every day as well, continuing to mature from past experiences and pass that onto the next generations. For teachers, librarians, and parent-figures, how do you hope that they elaborate Firesnake into their everyday life? 

Donna Barba Higuera: I’d love for my books to have audiences continue to ask questions. For there to be classroom discussions about the questions that arise in all of these books. I’m cautious to not give all the answers in my literature. There are moments in books that can get you wondering about yourself, and oftentimes, kids know better than we do as adults. Youth have the ability to see past the rules of society and sometimes come up with better solutions than older folks can. I’d like for everyone to have discussions about [this series], and for youth to start imagining what and how things can be now and later. 

The Cuentista Series in order to read: The Last Cuentista, Alebrijes, Firesnake. For more updates from her recent works, follow author Donna Barba Higuera on:

Website: https://www.dbhiguera.com 

Instagram: Instagram.com/donnabarbahiguera

Publisher: Levine Querido

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Donna Barba Higuera grew up in Central California surrounded by agricultural and oil fields. As a child, rather than dealing with the regular dust devils, she preferred spending recess squirreled away in the janitor’s closet with a good book. Her favorite hobbies were calling dial-a-story over and over again, and sneaking into a restricted cemetery to weave her own spooky tales using the crumbling headstones as inspiraton. Donna's middle grade and picture books are about kids who find themselves in odd or scary situatons. Donna likes to write about all things funny, but also sad, and creepy, and magical. If you like those things, she hopes you will read her books! Donna lives in Washington State with her family, two dogs and a frog.

Mexican-American professional Yvonne Tapia has an extensive background in marketing, education, and media, supporting both large enterprises and small businesses. Yvonne focuses on raising brand visibility and community engagement, particularly within marginalized sectors. She currently serves as a Senior Instructor at COOP Careers, where she mentors through hands-on marketing training while partnering with businesses from different industries. Outside of work, Yvonne is an avid reader and is involved in supportive causes.

Most Anticipated June 2026 Releases

How are this year’s reading goals going? Check out our list of most anticipated reads coming this month to keep the reading streak alive or to give it a much needed revival! Plus, see our full list of new Latinx titles releasing this month for more.

Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez | FICTION

It is 1968 Oakland, and Natalia Fuentes has been hearing rumors about the beautiful Violeta Miramontes. The young heiress to Spanish colonial wealth has been left paralyzed by a mysterious illness. But Nati knows a thing or two about witchcraft, and she is certain that this is the work of dark magic.

Armed with a plan to break the spell and earn a handsome reward, Nati works her way into the house as Violeta’s caretaker, and immediately discovers her suspicions are true. But who cursed Violeta? And why?

As feelings between the two women bloom into romance, Nati grows more and more reckless, and is forced to face her own ghosts— ones she hoped would stay gone forever. 

Riveting and richly layered, Muñeca explores how far one will go to save the person they love—even if that means damning themselves. Cynthia Gómez fills her debut novel with moments that chill your bones and warm your heart, a razor-sharp examination of deep-rooted issues that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

Monarchs in the Wild by Israel Moya | YOUNG ADULT

In the summer of 1994, seventeen-year-old Cal ''California'' Garcia can't seem to escape the gossip and horrified looks of his fellow La Sombra residents. They judge him on nothing more than the long scar on his face, his beat up '68 Mustang, and always being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Cal constantly feels like he's been set up to fail. His father left his family after the tragic accident that gave him his scar. His mother spends all her time at church, enchanted by the words of a crooked pastor. And his new-old Mustang brings more trouble and chaos than it's worth. Everything about being in La Sombra tells him he is and always will be a nothing. But as his senior year is coming to an end, his life is turned drastically upside down. Out by the railroad tracks, Cal finds Nora, valedictorian Nora, fallen off a bridge. The monarch butterflies stitched onto her jeans are seared into his memory forever. Having found her body, Cal becomes a person of interest in Nora's suspicious death.

As Cal tries to escape suspicion, an opportunity for a way out of La Sombra emerges from nowhere, and Cal is forced to choose his own fate. Will Cal finally decide who he is and where he wants to be? Or will he let circumstance choose for him and live his life as just another statistic in a farm-worker town?

The Adventures of Juan Planchard by Jonathan Jakubowicz | FICTION

"My name is Juan Planchard. I'm twenty-nine years old, and I have five million dollars in my account. I own a house in Caracas, another in Madrid, and a high-rise apartment in New York. I run a sportsbook at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. I share a private jet with a friend's frontman. And I'm convinced--down to my bones--that every decision I made during the revolution was the right one. My descendants will thank me."

So begins The Adventures of Juan Planchard, the story of a middle-class nobody turned millionaire by weaponizing the very corruption that swallowed Venezuela. He dines with oligarchs, sleeps with models, and navigates a world where power is the only currency--and morality is a luxury no one can afford.

But in the middle of the chaos, greed, and blood money, Juan falls hard for Scarlet, a sharp, seductive American beauty who just might be his way out--or his ultimate downfall.

Cages by Chantel Acevedo | FICTION

Cages is the story of Felix--a zookeeper in Cuba during the time of the missile crisis, an exile in swinging sixties London, and finally a dying man in 1980s AIDS-era Miami. In this daring novel, Acevedo's most personal and heartfelt to date, the fragments of Felix's story are put together like pieces of a puzzle by one who knew him mostly as an absence.

Cuba, 1963. Felix risks everything for an illicit love affair with a co-worker. In a society where homosexuality is branded "counterrevolutionary," their tenderness unfolds in the shadow of danger, treachery, and political oppression. In London, Felix and his wife Anabel navigate exile and reinvention, while an aspiring actress named Claudia finds herself drawn into their orbit, her ambitions and desires colliding with Felix's own hunger for connection. Years later, Virgilio--Anabel's devoted brother--recounts the disintegration of Felix's marriage and his decision to step in and protect the family Felix abandoned. From Anabel, long silent about her complicity in the events that forced Felix's flight from Cuba, to Rita, the daughter born out of wedlock, each vivid character gives us a different version of Felix, and the result is a dazzling mosaic of longing, deception, survival, and reconciliation.

Spanning Havana, London, and Miami over a thirty-year arc, Cages explores exile, forbidden love, fractured families, the nature of truth, and the stories we tell to make sense of the people we cannot forget.

Cathedrals by Claudia Piñeiro | Translated by Frances Riddle | FICTION

Thirty years ago, in an empty plot of a quiet neighbourhood, a teenage girl's body was found quartered and burned. The investigation ended with no arrests and her family - middle class, educated, Catholic - quietly disintegrated. Three decades later, the hidden truth comes to light thanks to the father's enduring love for the victim. That truth will reveal the raw realities lurking behind appearances, the cruelty of those who prioritize obedience and religious fanaticism, the complicity of the fearful and the indifferent, and the loneliness and desperation of those who seek to follow their own path, ignoring the dictates of their elders.

Just as she did with Elena Knows and A Little Luck, Claudia Piñeiro delves into family ties, social prejudice, and the ideologies and institutions that affect our inner worlds to deliver a brave, moving novel that strikes at the heart of these private dramas.

Medea Sang Me a Corrido by Dahlia de la Cerda | Translated by Heather Cleary & Julia Sanches | FICTION

In the mythic but all-too-familiar country of Aztlán, the violence of the cartel and the military are ever-present and indistinguishable, and everyday people strive to survive in the cross fire. Enter Medea: a deity with punk-rock flair, equal parts midwife and gravedigger, ancient but never too old to be petty.

In this novel in stories from the author of the International Booker Prize-nominated Reservoir Bitches, a reimagined Medea helps a trophy girlfriend with her abortion, accompanies a mother in search of her lost son in the desert, and embraces tragic victims of the state and its proxy wars. Dahlia de la Cerda's prose pierces the heart and introduces readers to a magnetic new version of a mythological icon--a femme fatale legend in a fatalistic world.

Together We See by Ari Tison | YOUNG ADULT

How far would you go to protect your land? To protect your family?

Told in multiple points of view, Together We See follows Ulá Dominguez, a Bribri-American teenager, searching for the truth behind her land-activist father's mysterious death on their Native territory in Costa Rica. Ulá and her brother, Kabék, uncover secrets and corruption as they face off against illegal loggers, kidnappers, settlers, and the local government in the hunt for clues. Their only allies are a few family friends and relatives still living in Bribri, as well as a young journalist, who may be in danger himself. But as details of their father's death emerge, long-held trust is broken. And in this sinister web of deception, no one is safe.

Inspired by real-world missing, dead, and attacked Indigenous activists, award-winning author Ari Tison writes her first novel in prose and pushes the envelope yet again by pulling together a propulsive story full of grief, environmental justice, and the fight for retribution.

Animal Spiral by Luis Othoniel Rosa | Translated by Katie Marya | FICTION

Middle-aged streamer twins in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, are the first human beings to successfully connect--sharing their consciousness across 34 translucent cables. In that moment, the Animal is born, an intracerebral force that quickly grows to encompass anthills of synaptically entwined bodies, a floating library kitchen redolent of rice and beans far above the Mississippi river, and a transhuman compound in a future Cuba on the Isle of Youth.

Circling back and forth and ever progressing, Animal Spiral moves through 400 years of human, and then post-human history, beginning with a revolution on the streets of San Juan and ending with five brilliant siblings: the Squash (humanoid), Calima (beetles), Yemayá (eels), Coatlicue (serpents), and Juracán (anthropomorphic birds), who have millions of bodies and all the world's intelligence, but only want to no longer be alone. This is a buoyant, joyous ode to possibility, a warning about the dangers of neglecting what makes us human, and an astonishing exercise of the flexibility and capacity of liminal spaces. Loneliness is a collective disease! We defend our right to madness! Brave are not the ones who resist; brave are the ones who let go!