 The holidays are upon us and Las Musas are here to help you find (hopefully) that perfect read for the reader in your life. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Or looking for a read outside of the picture book, middle grade, and young adult range? Ask us for a recommendation in the comments and we will happily get back to you! Note: We’ve placed content warnings on our young adult books (when we could find them), and we recommend researching further to make informed decisions before you purchase. Every reader is different and we hope this blog is just a starting point to finding a next read! 
THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo Acevedo’s debut follows Sophomore Xiomara Batista’s stunning journey to poetry. Told in verse, Xiomara grapples with identity, a strictly religious mother and her own feelings about religion and the euphoria of performing for open mic night. Ages 13+ UNDER THE MESQUITE by Guadalupe Garcia McCall Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother's battle with cancer in this young adult novel in verse. This is an empowering story about the testing of family bonds, the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience and the kind of love that cannot be uprooted. Ages 12+ 
ANGER IS A GIFT by Mark Oshiro Moss Jeffries is many things―considerate student, devoted son, loyal friend and affectionate boyfriend and enthusiastic nerd. But sometimes Moss still wishes he could be someone else―someone without panic attacks, someone whose father was still alive, someone who hadn’t become a rallying point for a community because of one horrible night. When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes again, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift. Anger is a Gift is about falling in love amidst the chaos of modern America. Ages 14+ Content Warning: Discussions of racism, police brutality, homophobia, and anxiety Also check out: The Moon Within by Aida Salazar 
THE FIRST RULE OF PUNK by Celia C. Perez Malu loves punk and assembles a band of like-minded of misfits to find her place in her new middle school where she doesn’t fit in. The First Rule of Punk is a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place and learning to rock out like no one’s watching. Ages 8+ ANA MARÍA REYES DOES NOT LIVE IN A CASTLE by Hilda Eunice Burgos Ana María hopes to attend New York City's best private academy, but her parents can’t afford that with four daughters and another baby on the way. So Ana María must nail her piano piece at the upcoming city showcase to win a scholarship. She practices through distractions and interruptions, including a family trip to the Dominican Republic and, with help from family and friends, figures out what truly matters. Ages 9+ DEALING IN DREAMS by Lilliam Rivera Nalah leads the fiercest all-girl crew in Mega City. That role brings with it violent throw downs and access to the hottest bodega clubs, but the sixteen-year-old grows weary of that life. Her dream is to get off the streets and make a home in the exclusive Mega Towers, in which only a chosen few get to live. Led by a reluctant guide, Nalah battles other crews and her own doubts but the closer she gets to her goal, the more she loses sight of everything—and everyone— she cares about. The Outsiders meets Mad Max: Fury Road in this fast-paced dystopian novel about sisterhood and the cruel choices people are forced to make in order to survive. Ages 14+ Also check out: Becoming Beatriz by Tami Charles 
LABYRINTH LOST by Zoraida Córdova Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation...and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she's not sure she can trust but who may be Alex's only chance at saving her family. Magic, family and more weave together in the Brooklyn Brujas series. Ages 13+ Content Warning: Bullying Also check out: We Set the Dark on Fire by Taylor Kay Mejia; Love Sugar Magic series by Anna Meriano; The Vicious Deep series by Zoraida Córdova 
BAD HAIR DOES NOT EXIST by Sulma Arzu-Brown Hispanic and Black children are exposed to the divisive and bullying term “bad hair” within their own communities. The book’s purpose is to empower all children by giving them alternate terms to describe their hair, and teaching them the importance of respecting one another’s differences. Ages 4+ *Also available in Spanish* SILVER MEADOWS SUMMER by Emma Otheguy When Carolina’s family moves from Puerto Rico to upstate New York, Carolina is stuck attending summer camp at Silver Meadows Farm with her bossy cousin Gabriela. Luckily, Carolina makes a friend of her own, Jennifer. The two girls stumble upon a long-abandoned cottage in the woods, which becomes their secret haven. Silver Meadows Summer is a touching portrayal of the experience of leaving one's home country and making new friends. Ages 8+ THE OTHER HALF OF HAPPY by Rebecca Balcárcel The Other Half of Happy stars Quijana, a half-Latina, half-Anglo seventh grader who does not speak Spanish, does not like Don Quixote and is definitely not going to Guatemala for Christmas! Join Quijana as she navigates life in the Guatemalan-American hyphen and discovers her missing half. Ages 8+ THE LIBRARY OF LOST THINGS by Laura Namey Taylor Darcy Wells loses herself in books to cope with her mother’s compulsive shopping and hoarding. But when she meets someone new and finds a chance at love, she has to open up, even if it’s messy. Ages 12+ COLOR ME IN by Natasha Díaz Debut YA author Natasha Díaz pulls from her personal experience to inform this powerful coming-of-age novel about Nevaeh Levitz, a biracial, Jewish fifteen-year-old trying to find where she fits between her two worlds as she discovers the meaning of friendship, the joyful beginnings of romance and the racism and religious intolerance that can both strain a family to the breaking point and strengthen its bonds. Color Me In is a powerful coming-of-age novel dealing with identity, racism and family. Ages 13+ WILD BEAUTY by Anna-Marie Mclemore For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens. Wild Beauty is a lush exploration of magic, family, identity and fierce love. Ages 14+ MAGICAL REALISM FOR NON-BELIEVERS: A MEMOIR OF FINDING FAMILY by Anika Fajardo At age 21, a young woman from Minnesota searches out the Colombian father she’s never known. There she learns that sometimes, no matter how many pieces you find, fitting together a family history isn’t easy. Vivid and heartfelt in the telling, the memoir is powerfully compelling in its bridging of time and place and in its moving depiction of self-transformation. Ages 16+ Also check out: The Truth Is by NoNieqa Ramos, The Moon Within by Aida Salazar, The Resolutions by Mia García 
ALL OF US WITH WINGS by Michelle Ruiz Keil Xochi is on her own in San Francisco where she meets tween genius Pallas and is hired as a live-in governess. When Xochi and Pallas’s riot-grrl ritual inadvertently summons a pair of ancient creatures bound to right the wrongs of Xochi’s childhood, Xochi must risk her place in her new family to save the mother that abandoned her. Ages 17+ Content Warning: Discussions of abuse, trauma, rape, depression, under-age relationship between teen and adult, and drug-use THE FALL OF INNOCENCE by Jenny Torres Sanchez The Lovely Bones meets Celeste Ng in this gorgeous, haunting, and tragic novel that examines the crippling—and far-reaching—effects of one person's trauma on her family, her community, and herself. Ages 14+ Content Warning: Trauma, depression, suicide. Also check out: Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro 
DEAR HAITI, LOVE ALAINE by Maika and Maritza Moulite When a school presentation goes very wrong, Alaine Beauparlant finds herself suspended and shipped off to Haiti where her mom is recovering from a fiasco of her own. She spends the next two months completing a “spring volunteer immersion project.” As she works to save her academic standing, Alaine learns the truth about her mother’s meltdown—and how she might be able to help—setting Alaine on a path that she never could have imagined. Ages 12+ Content Warning: Mention of past sexual abuse and non-consensual kiss SWEET BLACK WAVES by Kristina Pérez Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores with only a bloody history between them. Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. When she unknowingly saves the life of her enemy, he awakens her ancient healing magic and opens her heart. Inspired by the star-crossed tale of Tristan and Eseult, this is perfect for fans of Graceling and lush fantasies about warring countries, family secrets, and forbidden romance. Ages 15+ Also check out: Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno, Blizzard Besties by Yamile Saied Méndez; and Even If the Sky Falls by Mia García 
Five Midnights is a “wickedly thrilling” (William Alexander) novel based on the el Cuco myth set against the backdrop of modern-day Puerto Rico. Ages 14+ Content Warning: Conversations of substance abuse, violence, and mental health Also check out: The Tesla Legacy by K.K. Perez 
THE WIND CALLED MY NAME by Mary Louise Sanchez The winds of the Great Depression blow Margarita Sandoval, a ten-year-old Hispanic girl, away from her ancestral New Mexico home to Wyoming, and she is determined to make a new friend there. But when her Papá risks losing his job, possibly because of her new friend Caroline, Margarita invokes a Wyoming saint to intercede, and he more than answers her prayers. Ages 8+ ALL THE STARS DENIED by Guadalupe Garcia McCall In the heart of the Great Depression, Rancho Las Moras, like everywhere else in Texas, is gripped by the drought of the Dust Bowl, and resentment is building among white farmers against Mexican Americans. When Estrella organizes a protest against the treatment of tejanos in their town, her whole family becomes a target. There are no easy answers in All the Stars Denied, the first YA book to tackle this hidden history of the first mass deportation event that swept up hundreds of thousands of Mexican American citizens during the Great Depression. Ages 12+ Also check out: Marti’s Song for Freedom by Emma Othegy (also available in Spanish) 
THE RESOLUTIONS by Mia García Like a Latinx Breakfast Club, The Resolutions, follows friends Jess, Lee, Ryan and Nora as they reinstate their New Year’s Eve tradition with a twist: they assign resolutions to each other. Cue first loves, heartbreak, cafecitos and more pastries than a food network special. Ages 14+ Content Warning: Descriptions of anxiety attacks Also check out: Blizzard Besties by Yamile Saied Méndez 
WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT by Isabel Ibañez (1.28.20)
A lush tapestry of magic, romance, and revolución, drawing inspiration from Bolivian politics and history. Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight. But a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, and her mission becomes more complicated. Ages 14+ And that's not all! Check out all the Musas books coming out in 2020 here. Not what you’re looking for? Las Musas are happy to help! Write us a comment and we will give you some gift recommendations! Comments are closed.
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