Teen Services

*also available as an audiobook

Allende, Isabel
Zorro (2005)
“Let us begin at the beginning, at an event without which Diego de la Vega would not have been born.”

Alvarez, Julia
Finding Miracles (2004)
Fifteen-year-old Milly Kaufman is an average American teenager until Pablo, a new student at her school, inspires her to search for her birth family in his native country.

Canales, Viola
Tequila Worm (2005)
Sofia is a Mexican American girl growing up in South Texas.

Cisneros, Sandra
*Caramelo (2002)
The story of the Reyes family, told through the voice of Lala.

Danticat, Edwidge
Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994)
Twelve-year-old Sofie moves from Haiti to New York and back to Haiti.

Díaz, Junot
Drown (1996)
Short stories about Dominican Americans.

Durán, Miguel
Don't Spit in my Corner (1992)
Based on the author's experience as a teenage pachuco.

Escandón, María Amparo
Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Co.:
a road novel with literary license (2005)
The story of Libertad Gonzalez, imprisoned in the Mexicali Penal Institute for Women.

Esquivel, Laura
*Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
Recipes for love during the Mexican revolution.

Herrera, Juan Felipe
CrashBoomLove (1999)
At Rambling West High School, it's Hmongs vs Chicanos vs everybody vs César. A novel in poetry.

Jiménez, Francisco
Breaking Through (2001)
Sequel to The Circuit follows Francisco through high school.

Hernandez, Irene Beltran
Secret of Two Brothers (1995)
A young ex-con tries to make it in LA.

Hernández, Jo Ann Yolanda
White Bread Competition (1997)
When Luz, a ninth-grade Latina student in San Antonio, wins a spelling competition, her success triggers a variety of emotions among family, friends, and the broader community.

Lachtman, Ofelia Dumas
Summer of El Pintor (2001)
Monica’s life situation changes dramatically.

Martínez, Demetria
*Mother Tongue (1996)
In Albuquerque, Mary meets José Luis, a refugee from El Salvador.

Martinez, Victor
*Parrot in the Oven (1996)
Manny, vato firme, decides not to follow in his brother's footsteps.

Miller-Lachman, Lyn (editor)
Once Upon a Cuento (2003)
Seventeen short stories contributed by fourteen Latino authors.

Nava, Michael
Hidden Law (1992)
Gay attorney Henry Rios takes the case of a teenager accused of murder.

Obejas, Achy
Days of Awe (2001)
A Cuban refugee discovers that her family is actually converses - Jews who converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition.

Osa, Nancy
Cuba 15 (2003)
Violet Paz, a Chicago high school student, gets ready for her "quince.”

Quiñonez, Ernesto
Bodega Dreams (2000)
Chino learns about power in Spanish Harlem.

Rodriquez, Luis J
Music of the Mill (2005)
Spans sixty years and three generations of the Salcido family.

Pam Muñoz
*Esperanza Rising (2000)
A wealthy Mexican girl works as a migrant worker in Southern California just before the Depression.

Saldaña, Jr., René
Finding Our Way (2003)
Short stories

Sáenz, Benjamin Alire
Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood (2004)
As a Chicano high school student living in the unglamorous town of Hollywood, New Mexico, Sammy Santos faces the challenges of "gringo" racism, unpopular dress codes, the Vietnam War, barrio violence, and poverty.

Santana, Patricia
Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility (2002)
Yolanda's brother Chuy returns from Vietnam in 1969.

Soto, Gary
*Buried Onions (1977)
19-year-old Eddie drops out of college and finds himself struggling in Fresno, California

Triana, Gaby
Cubanita (2005)
Seventeen-year-old Isabel is eager to leave Miami to attend the University of Michigan and escape her overprotective Cuban mother

Velásquez, Gloria L.
Teen Angel (2003)
15 and pregnant.