12 Books to Read Instead of 鈥淎merican Dirt鈥�

There are many good books that capture the experiences of Latinx life. Most of them are written by Latinx authors and don鈥檛 reinforce stereotypes.

By now you鈥檝e probably heard the buzz around Oprah鈥檚 latest pick for her book club, American Dirt, written by Jeanine Cummins. The controversy is that Cummins, a White woman, used racist stereotypes in the book that was marketed as a poignant and realistic migration story. The drug cartels, violence, and negative Mexican tropes Cummins uses to create a migration thriller have been .

Cummins received a seven-figure advance for the novel and, to top it all off, the book release party used border wall imagery as decorations, such as .

So, if not American Dirt, what should you read? Here are some books by Latinx authors that capture the Latinx perspective with accuracy, empathy, and authenticity (and also omit racist tropes for shock value).

Adult Fiction

by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (One World/Penguin Random House)

This collection of short stories about Latinas of Indigenous descent living in the American West was a National Book Award finalist. The narratives explore abandonment, heritage, and 鈥渁n eternal sense of home,鈥� following a family in a cycle of violence against women, a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home, a woman leaving prison to find a gentrified city so far from the one in her childhood memory, and more. In Fajardo-Anstine鈥檚 debut collection, according to National Book Award judges, 鈥�.鈥�

by Isabel Allende (Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House)

Isabel Allende鈥檚 latest novel takes a moment in history鈥攖he ship from Spain to Chile chartered by Pablo Neruda to save 2,000 Spanish refugees at the end of the 1939 civil war鈥攁nd uses it to imagine the lives of two people heading for political asylum. 鈥淒estined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world,鈥� Allende鈥檚 characters start over in a new continent, longing to return to their home while building a new one. Reviewer that Allende, who was exiled from Chile when her name appeared on a 鈥渨anted鈥� list in the 1970s, writes a novel that brings 鈥渢he solace of wisdom when we need it most, wrapped in a love story which reminds us, as abiding love always does, that grace takes many forms鈥攜et its core is not faith, but truth.鈥�

Young Adult/Middle Grade Fiction

by Gabby Rivera (Dial Books/Penguin Random House)

Juliet Takes a Breath is a book about a young Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx, New York, who gets a summer internship with a White feminist author in Portland, Oregon. It鈥檚 a young woman鈥檚 journey learning about herself and her history and understanding her place in the world and in her community as a chubby lesbian of color.

by Celia C. P茅rez (Puffin Books)

The First Rule of Punk is a middle-grade, 鈥渨ry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one鈥檚 watching.鈥� Protagonist Mal煤 is rock music-loving 12-year-old who鈥檚 finding her place at her new school where popular girl Selena calls her 鈥渃oconut,鈥� implying she is brown on the outside but white on the inside. 鈥淎 charming debut about a thoughtful, creative preteen connecting to both halves of her identity,鈥� .

by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins)

With The Fire On High tells the story of an Afro-Dominican senior in high school who also is a mother. She has a love and natural gift for cooking and is trying to balance work, taking care of her child, negotiating boundaries with her child鈥檚 father, and her dreams of being a chef.

Poetry

by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books)

The Poet X follows the tale of 15-year-old Xiomara as she navigates her family, growing up, and falling into poetry. The book is written in verse, each poem one that Xiomara is writing to tell her own story. Acevedo writes the powerful Afro-Latinx representation that is necessary when these perspectives are often erased.

by Jos茅 Olivarez (Haymarket Books)

A book of poems by Mexican American poet Jos茅 Olivarez, ties together memory, experience, and humanity. This collection makes the reader sit with the idea of nationhood, assimilation, and how White people are granted immediate access to privileges denied to people of color, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

Edited by Felicia Chavez, Jos茅 Olivarez, and Willie Perdomo (Haymarket Books)

Forthcoming in April 2020, this will be an anthology of contemporary Latinx poets. From the publisher: 鈥淧oets speak from an array of nationalities, genders, sexualities, races, and writing styles, staking a claim to our cultural and civic space. Like Hip-Hop, we honor what was, what is, and what’s next.鈥�

Nonfiction/Memoir

by Jason De Leon (University of California Press)

This chilling nonfiction book by anthropology professor Jason de Leon paints a picture of the state-sanctioned violence of the border, and how the United States government is complicit in some of the most violent deaths. De Leon describes his work as an 鈥渆thnography of death.鈥�

by Piri Thomas (Vintage Books/Penguin Random House)

Published in 1967, this memoir details the author鈥檚 experience growing up half-Black, half-Puerto Rican in a barrio of New York City. Thomas, who died in 2011, struggles with the colorism in his family鈥攈is siblings and mother are light enough to pass as White鈥攔acist schoolmates, gang loyalty, and prison. Reviewer Thelma T. Reyna describes Thomas鈥檚 memoir as a 鈥�,鈥� as he searches for a physical place where his skin color doesn鈥檛 determine his worth, and as he fights an emotional battle for the love of his family.

by Reyna Grande (Simon & Schuster)

Reyna Grande details her young life in Mexico, living with her grandparents while her parents were building a new foundation in the U.S. When Grande reunites with her parents鈥攚hen her mother returns to Mexico, and when Grande illegally crosses the border at age 9 to be with her father鈥攖hey are not the people she remembers or dreamed of. Grande鈥檚 memoir is routinely recommended both for the and 鈥渦nderstanding of the challenges that make it difficult for her relatives to be consistent parents and role models.鈥� The memoir has also been .

by Gloria Anzald煤a (Aunt Lute Books)

According to the publisher, this collection of essays and poems has how we think of identity for more than 30 years. Based on Anzald煤a鈥檚 experience as a Chicana lesbian activist, she critically analyzes the psychic, social and cultural impacts of borders, and of living in a borderland. It should be noted that in recent analyses of the book, critics have highlighted Anzald煤a鈥檚 lack of consideration for transatlantic slavery and Afro-Latinx identity. Scholars say this , but the evolution of thought around the book is needed 鈥渢o make visible this erasure and open up possibilities for thinking about what would happen if we approached her work, Latinx geographies and Latinx theory more broadly with a commitment to understanding Black experiences, struggles and geographies.鈥�

Ananya Garg is a former solutions journalism reporting intern for 大象传媒, as well as a poet and educator in Seattle.

Isabella Garcia is a former solutions reporter and former editorial intern for 大象传媒 Media. Her work has appeared in The Malheur Enterprise and 大象传媒 Magazine. Isabella is based in Portland. She can be reached at isabellagarcia.website.

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