This collection of middle grade novels focuses on the experiences of protagonists with Latinx and Hispanic heritage. A wide variety of stories by Latinx and Hispanic authors offer young readers the opportunities to dive into contemporary, historical and magical realms during Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month–and all year long.
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Reading Tip: Look for other books written by the authors on this book list for more fantastic options. In addition, a lot of these books are also available in Spanish!
Graphic Novels
Mexikid by Pedro Martín
Pedro Martín's graphic novel memoir about a 1970s family road trip to Mexico is a delight! One of nine children, Pedro has grown up hearing stories about his revolutionary-hero grandfather and now his whole family is headed to Jalisco to bring Abuelito back to California. You can imagine the hilarious antics all those kids in a Winnebago get up to. Pure joy.
Chunky (series) by Yehudi Mercado
Hudi's parents are concerned about his weight and health and encourage him to go out for a sports team. Hudi's imaginary friend, Chunky, convinces him to try baseball but Hudi's talents lie not in sports. Hudi, the only Mexican-Jewish kid in his Texas neighborhood, prefers theater and comedy. An uplifting and funny graphic novel with a very likable protagonist.
Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega, illustrated by Rose Bousamra
Marlene hates going to the hair salon to have her hair straightened. Her mother insists that Marlene tame her frizzy hair into "good hair." Marlene resents how others judge her natural hair, but she doesn't know how to style it. Enter her Tía Ruby, who also has a head full of boisterous curls. Tía Ruby empowers Marlene with instructions and products to help her wear her hair the way she wants. This revelation is followed by another which helps bring Marlene and her mother closer together. This wonderful graphic novel isn't just about one girl's battle with society's beauty standards, it's a window into how kids can learn to speak up for themselves.
MORE: Be sure to check out our dedicated list of Graphic Novels with a Latinx focus!
Fantasy and Sci-Fi
A Dash of Trouble (series) by Anna Meriano
In her Mexican-American family, Leonora Logroño has five older sisters. Convinced her sisters are excluding her from something important while they tend to the family bakery in their small Texan town, Leo investigates. She discovers a book, Recetas de amor, azúcar, y magia, and learns that her sisters use magic in their baked goods! Against her sisters' advice, Leo decides it is time that she learn magic, too, but things don't go exactly as she hopes! A delightful book for readers who enjoy magical realism.
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
My son listened to this on audiobook and loved it! He was alternating between gasping and laughing. Salvador Vidón is the new kid, but is also an unusual kid because he is able to open portals into alternate universes with his mind. He meets Gabi Reál who is a bit suspicious of his explanation about the mysterious things that happen when he is around. This is a really fun book, with lots of fast-paced action and crazy humor. Highly recommended!
Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall
12-year-old aspiring documentary filmmaker, Pilar Ramirez, lives in a gentrifying Chicago neighborhood with her Dominican-American family. Her abuela fled Rafael Trujillo's brutal dictatorship and her cousin vanished fifty years ago. Her college sister's sociology professor researches missing persons and when Pilar starts to look at a file in the professor's office, she is whisked through time and space to the mysterious and magical island of Zafa where she must endeavor to save the island from the sinister El Cuco.
MORE: Big List of Fantasy Middle Grade Books
The Last Beekeeper by Pablo Cartaya
This is a great choice for middle grade readers who like a little dystopia and a lot of action in their fiction. Yoly Cicerón's parents are in exile, and she and her sister work on the family's strawberry farm. Yoly wants to go to the city to train as a neurolink surgeon, but can't afford it. Unfolding events reveal an oppressive and authoritarian System with secret dangers. Yoly's discovery of the last surviving beehive brings hope that the System can be toppled and past wrongs can be righted.
The Storm Runner (series) by J.C. Cervantes
In The Storm Runner, Mayan mythology is front and center. Thirteen-year-old Zane learns that the volcano in his New Mexico backyard is a actually a prison for a Mayan god. When Brooks, a mysterious shape-shifting girl shows up to help Zane fulfill his destiny, the adventure begins.
MORE: Mythology-inspired novels for kids
Charlie Hernández & the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo.
Charlie spent his childhood listening to his abuela's tales of Hispanic mythology. One day, in middle school Charlie experiences a strange transformation which suggests those tales weren't myths after all. He is thrown into a world which is both familiar and bizarre, and with the help of his friend, Violet, Charlie follows clues from a map in his mother's locket that takes him on a hair-raising adventure. Charlie switches fluently from English to Spanish, but the meaning will be perfectly clear to non-Spanish speakers and there is a helpful glossary of Hispanic mythology in the endnotes.
Dactyl Hill Squad (series) by Daniel José Older
It's 1863 and the Civil War is being fought with troops on the backs of raptors! This is a spectacular and unique historical fantasy story. When Magdalys and several friends are on a field trip, children from the orphanage where they live are kidnapped. Magdalys and the others head to the Dactyl Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn where they learn how to ride pterodactyls as part of a plan to take down the evil magistrate behind the kidnappings. Magdalys has some trouble learning how to be a team player but her skill as a dinosaur telepath (!) helps lead the group to victory.
Contemporary Realism
The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel
Quijana is biracial Guatemalan-Anglo and has conflicted feelings about her mixed race identity. She doesn't speak Spanish and doesn't want to go with her family on a trip to Guatemala. Instead, she plans on running away to visit her maternal grandmother in Florida. A lovely coming of age story.
Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya
Cuban-American sixth grader Emilia has ADHD and experiences difficulty staying focused at school. After her father returns home from deployment, Emilia notices that he seems a bit different–moody and more distant. And the difficulties keep coming; a school assignment which illuminates social injustice threatens her oldest friendships.
MORE: Books about Cubans and Cuban-Americans
Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Pérez
Four very different girls come together to work towards a goal. "The Floras" is a beauty pageant girls club which uses a crown made of bird feathers to crown the winner. Cat, Aster, Ofelia and Lane team up to get the Floras to stop using the crown. They hit some bumps along the way and form their own club, the Ostentation of Others and Outsiders. This is a wonderfully engaging story of friendship and justice.
The Moon Within by Aida Salazar
This is a remarkable, much needed tale about Celi, a girl who is learning about how her body is changing and taking her into womanhood. Celi's mother wants to have a moon ceremony when Celi has her first period, but Celi doesn't want that. At school, Celi is adjusting to her best friend Mar's own transition, from girl to "xochihuah," or non-binary. This important book explores cultural and gender identity in an engaging and contemporary story.
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya
13-year-old Arturo works part-time in his family’s Cuban restaurant. But then a sketchy land developer, Pipo, wants to buy the lot next door and convince the city to let him develop a huge project with no room for the restaurant. Arturo, with the help of his friend Carmen, work to undermine Pipo’s plot.
Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle by Hilda Eunice Burgos
Ana María lives in a tiny New York apartment with her three sisters and another sibling on the way. Ana María is determined to win a scholarship to a private school but that means she will have to practice the piano as much as possible, which seems all but impossible, given the amount of chaos that is going on in her family!
Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros
12-year-old Efrén loves to watch his Ama make milagras for him and his twin siblings every morning. It seems like she is always making a miracle breakfast out of nothing. After his Ama is deported in a surprise raid, Efrén must look after the household, including his disabled sibling, while his Apa works hard to earn the money needed to bring Ama back to the family. Efrén's secret almost costs him his best friend, a white boy who lives with his grandmother, as well as his academic success. Readers will empathize with the struggles of living with immigration difficulties and the emotional chaos of being forcibly separated from a parent.
MORE: Middle Grade Books about Refugees
Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan
It's summer in the fictional country of Santa Maria and Maximiliano is ready to work with his father in construction, as well as eager to try out for the local fútbol team. However, when Max needs his birth certificate to try out for the team, secrets surrounding his parents are slowly revealed. His grandfather's been telling stories about La Reina Gigante, a stone tower used as a hideout by the Guardians, a secret group that helped refugees from neighboring countries.
How Tía Lola Came to Stay by Julia Alvarez
10-year-old Miguel, his sister Juanita, and his mom have just moved from NYC to Vermont. His aunt Lola comes to visit from the Dominican Republic. Tía Lola's dynamic and outgoing personality helps Miguel navigate his feelings about the divorce, his new status as the only Latino in his school class, as well as adding humor, joy and adventure to his daily life.
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
For the first time, Paloma Marquez is going to visit Mexico, the homeland of her deceased father. While in Mexico City, Paloma visits Casa Azul, the former home of artist Frida Kahlo, where she plans to take language and art classes. Paloma befriends locals Gael and Lizzie and the three of them set about solving the mystery of Frida Kahlo's missing ring.
MORE: Take a trip around the world with these middle grade books
Historical Fiction
The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez
During the Great Depression, Margarita Sandoval's family farm in New Mexico is devastated by drought and her father takes a job with the railroad, moving the family to Wyoming. Her new community doesn't appreciate the Sandoval's Hispanic heritage, her father works to organize rail workers into a union and her family must prevent the loss of Abuelita's land in New Mexico. This book fills a much needed gap in children's literature by portraying the diversity of the American frontier.
Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar
In the 1960s, Ruthie and her family are recent Jewish-Cuban immigrants living in New York City. After a car accident, Ruthie suffers terrible injuries and she is placed in a full body cast. Confined to bed and totally dependent on others, Ruthie's physical world narrows, but as others come to visit her, Ruthie begins to collect stories and her emotional and intellectual world expands. The author based the story on her own experiences and this is a wonderful, moving book.
The Wild Book by Margarita Engle
Fefa lives on the family farm in Cuba with her 10 siblings. A doctor tells Fefa that because of her dyslexia she will never read or write. Her mother, fortunately, is not so easily convinced. She gives Fefa a journal as a word garden in which to practice. Set in 20th century Cuba, against the backdrop of some difficult times, this verse novel is a wonderful story of a girl and her perseverance.
MORE: Latino and Hispanic Biographies for Kids
Cuba in My Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas
Cuevas's story, inspired by her father's experiences, begins after the Bay of Pigs invasion. 12-year-old Cumba has been marked for military recruitment in Fidel Castro's oppressive regime and his parents decide to send him to safety in the United States. When he arrives in Florida, he is overwhelmed by the strangeness of life, language and culture. Gradually he begins to acclimate but still longs to be reunited with his family.
More books with a Latino and Hispanic focus that you will love: Picture Books with Latino and Hispanic Characters
Robin Yardi says
Hi Erica, I love this list you put together, but don’t think THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ should be on it as it isn’t #ownvoices. How about ME, FRIDA, AND THE SECRET OF THE PEACOCK RING instead?
KT says
Fun list! I just finished Strange Birds and really enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more from this list.