So summer is winding down, but there’s still plenty of time left for that long day at the beach with that book you’ve been meaning to read. While there are always the drug-store page-turners out there, a recent list of award-winning books by Latina authors just might do the trick for your holiday by the sea.
Latino Literacy Now just named its top books at the International Latino Book Awards, awarding several Latina authors top honors earlier this month, according to a recent article at Voxxi.
Below are 10 prize-winning books by Latinas:
1. ¿Qué hago con el sexo? By Flavia Dos Santos
This Spanish-language advice book answers 300 of the most-frequently-asked questions about sex that Dos Santos, a Brazilian sexologist, psychologist and couples’ therapist, has been asked at her practice.
2. L.A. Xicano, Edited by Chon A. Noriega, Terezita Romo and Pilar Tompkins Rivas
This book is the written counterpart to four art exhibitions about the contributions of Mexican-American and Chicano artists to American art, with a focus on Los Angeles since 1945.
3. Latinnovating: Green American Jobs and the Latinos Creating Them, By Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
This book is an inspiration for young Latinos considering entering the green economy, and has been praised by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
4. Conversations With My Skin, By Peggy Robles-Alvarado
A debut collection of poetry about the Puerto Rican and Dominican author’s struggles through teen pregnancy, an abusive relationship and growth as a woman. Hailed as powerful, honest, moving and brutal by Being Latino.
5. Traces of Bliss, By Cecilia Velástegui
Set in the wealthy Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, this novel examines the intersection of memory, betrayal, curanderismo and the history of Amazonian Ecuador, the author’s native country.
6. Chicanas of 18th Street, By Leonard Ramirez with Yenelli Flores, Maria Gamboa, Isaura Gonzalez, Victoria Perez, Madga Ramirez-Castaneda and Cristina Vital
This book follows six female community organizers working in Chicago’s Mexican-American neighborhood of Pilsen during the 1960s and ‘70s.
7. Vademécum Mujeres: Para que la vida no se te vuelva de cuadritos, By Maria Villegas and Jennie Kent
A book of advice for young women about balancing health, finances, relationships, career and social life.
8. Finding Fernanda: Two Mothers, One Child, and a Cross-Border Search for Truth, By Erin Siegal
This non-fiction book about the lucrative Guatemalan adoption industry is like a mystery novel, telling the true story of a Guatemalan mother whose two young daughters were stolen from her and the American housewife who almost adopts one.
9. Time in Between (also available in Spanish as El Tiempo Entre Costuras), By María Dueñas
This historical fiction debut novel details the life of a young woman who flees Spain before the Spanish Civil War, follows her lover to Morocco and ends up a spy for the Allies during World War II.
10. A Song in My Heart, By Roma Calatayud-Stocks
The first in a trilogy, this historical novel unravels against the backdrop of early- 20th century Minneapolis.