Gear up for summer reading with our picks for the most anticipated releases in May! Check out our list for the full list of May 2021 Latinx Releases and let us know which wonderful book you’re most excited for!
INDIVISIBLE | Young Adult
by Daniel Aleman (Hachette/Little, Brown BFYR)
Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they’re hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family’s worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents’ fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he’s forced to question what it means to be an American.
Daniel Aleman’s Indivisible is a remarkable story—both powerful in its explorations of immigration in America and deeply intimate in its portrait of a teen boy driven by his fierce, protective love for his parents and his sister.
WHAT WILL YOU BE?| Picture Book
by Yamile Saied Méndez; illustrated by Kate Alizadeh (HarperCollins)
“Méndez and Alizadeh create a balance between the abstract and concrete by letting the child imagine the future but with Abuela’s guidance and support. A sweet read to share with loved ones.” —Kirkus (starred review)
What will you be when you grow up?
A young girl dreams about all the endless possibilities, sparking a sense of wonder, curiosity, and growth. With her abuela’s loving guidance, she learns her potential is limitless.
Yamile Saied Méndez’s powerful, lyrical text and Kate Alizadeh’s colorful, stunning art are a radiant celebration of family, love, and community.
A Spanish-language edition, ¿Qué Serás?, is also available.
MEET CUTE DIARY| Young Adult
by Emery Lee (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)
Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.
When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.
In this charming novel by Emery Lee, Noah will have to choose between following his own rules for love or discovering that the most romantic endings are the ones that go off script.
MANOS QUE BAILAN (DANCING HANDS SPANISH EDITION)| Picture Book
by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Rafael López; translated by Alexis Romay (S&S/Atheneum)
Ganador del premio Pura Belpré de ilustración
De niña, a Teresa Carreño le encantaba dejar que sus manos bailaran a lo largo de las hermosas teclas del piano. Si se sentía triste, la música le levantaba el ánimo y, cuando estaba feliz, el piano la ayudaba a compartir esa alegría. Pronto comenzó a escribir sus propias canciones y a tocar en grandes catedrales.
Entonces, una revolución en Venezuela hizo que su familia tuviera que huir a Estados Unidos. Teresa se sentía sola en este sitio desconocido en el que muy poca de la gente a quien conocía hablaba español. Y lo peor es que también había una guerra en su nuevo hogar: la Guerra Civil.
Aun así, Teresa siguió tocando y pronto adquirió fama de ser la talentosa niña del piano que podía tocar cualquier cosa, desde una canción folclórica hasta una sonata. Era tan famosa, de hecho, ¡que el presidente Abraham Lincoln quiso que fuera a tocar a la Casa Blanca! Sin embargo, con el país dividido por la guerra, ¿podría la música de Teresa traer consuelo a quienes más lo necesitaban?
ILLUSIONARY| Young Adult
by Zoraida Córdova (Hachette/Little, Brown BFYR)
Reeling from betrayal at the hands of the Whispers, Renata Convida is a girl on the run. With few options and fewer allies, she's reluctantly joined forces with none other than Prince Castian, her most infuriating and intriguing enemy. They're united by lofty goals: find the fabled Knife of Memory, kill the ruthless King Fernando, and bring peace to the nation. Together, Ren and Castian have a chance to save everything, if only they can set aside their complex and intense feelings for each other.
With the king's forces on their heels at every turn, their quest across Puerto Leones and beyond leaves little room for mistakes. But the greatest danger is within Ren. The Gray, her fortress of stolen memories, has begun to crumble, threatening her grip on reality. She'll have to control her magics—and her mind—to unlock her power and protect the Moria people once and for all.
For years, she was wielded as weapon. Now it's her time to fight back.
OJALÁ SUPIERAS (I WISH YOU KNEW SPANISH EDITION)| Picture Book
by Jackie Azúa Kramer; illustrated by Magdalena Mora (Macmillan/Roaring Brook)
Cuando el papá de Estrella tiene que irse
porque no nació aquí como ella,
Estrella lo extraña.
Ella desea que la gente supiera como le afecta.
En su casa. En la escuela.
Siempre.
Su escuela rodea un roble centenario,
y ese árbol es el lugar perfecto para compartir.
Algunos niños extrañan a su familia,
algunos niños tienen hambre,
algunos viven en refugios.
Pero nadie está solo si otros están dispuestos a escuchar.
Un cuento sobre la deportación, familias separadas, y la importancia de comunicad en momentos de incertidumbre.
