Oh, What Fun: December Releases 2018

Whether your December consists of curling up by a window and enjoying the warmth inside as temperatures drop outside, or admiring the bright lights wrapped around palm trees, few can argue against the fact that this time of year is one of the coziest. No matter what you celebrate, the holiday season is undoubtedly the perfect time to fall in love with new books written by your favorite Latinx authors (though — isn’t that all the time?).

December is the month for Spanish-language translations of our favorite reads like La encrucijada, a Spanish-language translation of The Crossroads by Alexandra Diaz; the story of Jaime Rivera, a young boy brought to the U.S in search of a better life. With his parents and extended family far away from him in Guatemala, the process of adjustment to the U.S for Jaime is anything but easy. The book delves into how Jaime finds hope in unexpected places and what it means to start over somewhere you don’t feel invited.

Luna Fortuna, which will be released on December 26, is the Spanish-language version of the incredibly successful Lucky Luna, by Diana López! Luna Fortuna brings back the tale of Luna and her cousin Claudia that we have come to know and love, all in Spanish this time. When Luna locks her know-it-all cousin in a bathroom at a quinceañera, getting grounded for a month is the least of her worries — it turns out, Claudia is also transferring into her school! Over the course of the novel, Claudia and Luna both come to find out that while friends may come and go, primas are forever. For fans of heartwarming stories revolving around family, this one’s for you.

Yamile Saied Méndez’s Blizzard Besties hits shelves this December, just in time for snow! In this fun novel, Veronica Campos is on the winter vacation of a lifetime — she is more than ready to settle into the Ski lodge and make the most of her fun-filled winter break. Things go haywire, though, when her little brother turns out to be stranded in a blizzard. Determined to save her brother, and with a few new friends by her side, Blizzard Besties promises to be the fun winter read you’ve been looking for.

Last, but certainly not least, Sarai Saves the Music is the third installment in the hit series based on the life of Sarai Gonzalez and written with Monica Brown. In this latest book in the series, Sarai is determined to save her school’s band program after budget cuts threaten to remove it, and a benefit concert is the way to go! Alongside her friends and with the help of the internet, Sarai is willing to do whatever it takes to save the music.

The holidays are the perfect time to sit back and enjoy some new, interesting reads, and December offers a variety of new stories to choose from. Which of these new December reads is your favorite? Tweet us at @LatinxinPublishing and let us know!

Más Fuerte Together!: NCTE Roundtable Discussion

Exclusive Cover Reveal: My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, Illustrated by Zeke Peña

A celebration of the love between a father and daughter, and of a vibrant immigrant neighborhood, by an award-winning author and illustrator duo.

We are super excited to share the cover for My Papi Has A Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña. Read below for more on the book and check out the duo covers in English and Spanish on the left.

When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she's always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her. 

But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there.

With vivid illustrations and text bursting with heart, My Papi Has a Motorcycle is a young girl's love letter to her hardworking dad and to memories of home that we hold close in the midst of change.

 The book is available for pre-order now. Click here for more information.

NPH 'The Resolutions' Review

Written by Norma Perez-Hernandez

When adults tend to talk about reading inclusive books written by diverse authors, they (myself included) will say how their younger selves would love the increased representation in the books published for children today.

Still, have you read a new book that makes you feel like you are that kid again, reading it for the first time?

That’s the way I felt while reading The Resolutions by Mia García. Not only do I know that sixteen-year-old me would have loved this story about four best friends who happen to be Puerto Rican, but I could see myself absorbed in this book for my local library’s summer reading challenge, propped up on my mom’s old caramel colored corduroy upholstered loveseat, the fan hitting my face, and a can of Pringles at my side.

The Resolutions is all about the title: the four friends, Jess, Lee, Nora, and Ryan, decide on New Year’s Eve to adhere to the typical New Year’s tradition—except instead of coming up on their own resolutions, the friends write each other’s new year goals for each other. Ryan has to get over his ex and back into his art, Lee needs to decide whether she’ll take the test to know if she has the same disease that took her mother’s life, Nora has to decide if her dreams are tied to her mother’s restaurant, and Jess, the architect of this resolution project, has to say yes—and hopefully learn to say no to—all of the pressure she puts on herself.

At first glance, one may wonder what’s so revolutionary about The Resolutions. There are no dragons to slay, no evil wizards, no marginalized pain in this book’s pages. And that’s what honestly makes The Resolutions so refreshing. It’s a book about four regular teenagers who all just happen to be of Puerto Rican descent. Their pain and conflict comes from other sources than their Latinx identities: breakups, new and changing relationships, anxiety about school and their future, and so on. And if we could have more books like The Resolutions, we can see even more of the rich diversity of Latinx teenagers, their identities, fears, weaknesses, dreams, and triumphs.

The Resolutions by Mia García came out on November 13, 2018 from Katherine Tegen Books. For more information, click here.