Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer: Undocumented Vignettes from a Pre-American Life by Alberto Ledesma
As a teacher and administrator at University of California, Berkeley, Ledesma doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of the undocumented immigrant. But that’s the point of this book, which is part graphic memoir and part cri de coeur. This is a powerful document of the unspoken anxieties felt by Americans like him who worry that their immigration status and history will overshadow everything else in their lives. (Publishers Weekley)
My Beloved World by Sonia Sottomayor
"The first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with a candor and intimacy never undertaken by a sitting Justice, she recounts her life from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, a journey that offers an inspiring testament to her own extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself."
Making Hispanics How Activists, Bureaucrats and Media Constructed a New American by G. Cristins Mora
How did Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Cubans become known as “Hispanics” and “Latinos” in the United States? How did several distinct cultures and nationalities become portrayed as one? Cristina Mora answers both these questions and details the scope of this phenomenon in Making Hispanics. She uses an organizational lens and traces how activists, bureaucrats, and media executives in the 1970s and ’80s created a new identity category—and by doing so, permanently changed the racial and political landscape of the nation.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race. . . . Mr. Garcia Marquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life." —William Kennedy, New York Times Book Review
An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
Spanning more than two hundred years, this much-anticipated book is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history, arguing that the “Global South” was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Scholar and activist Paul Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress as exalted by widely taught formulations like “manifest destiny” and “Jacksonian democracy,” and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms US history into one of the working class organizing against imperialism. (Beacon Press)
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
The quintessential story of what it means to be the first generation to live two lives across one border, The House of Broken Angels is Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Alberto Urrea’s unforgettable portrait of the De La Cruz family as they celebrate the lives of two of their most beloved members over the course of one raucous and bittersweet weekend. (Little, Brown and Company)
Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher
The co-founder of the Women’s March makes her young adult debut in this near-future dystopian novel. It’s 2023 and Vali and her brother are undocumented immigrants in the United States, where citizens are chipped and tracked by the xenophobic government. Their mother is detained and they must make the journey to the sanctuary state of California where their aunt Luna lives.
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
A queer coming-of-age fantasy novel from award-winning author Mark Oshiro follows Xochitl as she wanders alone in the desert. She recalls stories from home to the wind and befriends the stars and sand dunes in hopes she’ll meet another soul. She finds love when she meets Emilia and the two embark on a magical trek across the desert.
Citizens but Not Americans Race and Belonging among Latino Millennials by Nilda Flores-González
Examines how Latino millennials understand race, experience race, and develop notions of belonging. Based on nearly one hundred interviews, the author argues that though these young Latina/os are U.S. citizens by birth, they do not feel they are part of the “American project,” and are forever at the margins looking in. (NYU Press)
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as a contributing citizen; about families, keeping them together, and having to make new ones when you can’t. This book is about constantly hiding from the government and, in the process, hiding from ourselves. This book is about what it means to not have a home.
Youth, Identity, Power. The Chicano Movement by Carlos Munoz
Carlos Muñoz places the Chicano Movement in the context of the political and intellectual development of people of Mexican descent in the USA, tracing the emergence of student activists and intellectuals in the 1930s and their initial challenge to the dominant white racial and class ideologies. (Verso Books)