Latin@ – YA Pride

If You Haven’t Seen

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:37-05:00June 22nd, 2016|Categories: Archive, Blogathon 2016, Guest Blogs, Teachers & Librarians|Tags: Asian, Black, Intersectionality, Latin@|

by Edith Campbell Back in October 2015 my daughter shared news with me about the book Large Fears by Myles Johnson and Kendrick Daye and I was so excited that I posted about it on FaceBook. I was easily engaged by the artwork and intrigued by the story of a young black boy who daydreamed about escaping to Mars where he could be free to love the color pink. Just above the image of the book, I wrote, “I'm really glad to know about this book! I would say there are so few books for queer black boys, but [...]

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Editing Diversity in Chile – Part 2

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:38-05:00June 15th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Blogathon 2016, Guest Blogs, Publishing People|Tags: Bisexual, international, Latin@, Representation|

by Daniela Cortés del Castillo I’ve already covered the challenges I’ve faced at Loba Ediciones when trying to publish diversely. Now I’d like to speak briefly about what happens when I change my hat and become an editor working with an author. Editing with intersectional feminism in mind is not easy. You carry around a lot of theoretical baggage that you need to use, but can also spoil the trip. I don’t want to become so pedagogical that I ruin a perfectly good story. Early on, I had to decide on a strategy, something that would allow me to [...]

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Publishing Diversity in Chile – Part 1

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:38-05:00June 14th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Blogathon 2016, Guest Blogs, Publishing People|Tags: Intersectionality, Latin@|

by Daniela Cortés del Castillo I thought about writing this guest post about my experiences as a young reader and how, as a teenager, there were no kidslikeme in the books I read, and how fantastic and helpful for my sense of self it would have been if there were. Now, all of these things are true, but it’s a topic that has been covered many times before (on this blog and elsewhere) by people who are much more eloquent than I. Therefore, I’d like to focus this post on something that, albeit a tad less interesting, might [...]

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Latinx Gay YA

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:40:49-05:00June 12th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Blogathon 2016, Book Lists, Guest Blogs|Tags: Intersectionality, Latin@, LGBTQIA, PoC, Queer Girls, Queer Guys|

by Dr. Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez There remains a great need for Latinx Gay young adult literature. The list below is a compilation of texts that center and complicate these experiences. I’ve decided to make this list a space dedicated to stories written by self-identifying Latinx authors who have created gay Latinx protagonists. There are certainly other books with gay Latinx minor characters and books with gay Latinx characters written by non-Latinx. Many of the protagonists in the novels listed below express a feeling of isolation when they come out or at simply existing as a gay Latinx person. [...]

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When Books Save Lives… And When They Don’t

By Kale|2020-03-28T13:41:48-05:00May 9th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: Bisexual, gay, Latin@, Mental Health|

(warning for discussion of suicide) by Alex Sanchez Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez (Simon & Schuster, 2001) When my first novel, Rainbow Boys, was about to be published my editor asked me, “Do you realize this book isgoing to save lives?” I wondered if he’d confused my book with someone else’s. But then the novel came out, and I began to receive emails from readers. Some said the protagonists had become their role models. Others said they’d read the book over and over when they felt lonely and afraid. And then came responses like this one: [...]

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5 Reasons to Love Benjamin Alire Saenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

By Sonia|2020-03-28T13:42:06-05:00March 5th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Historical, Latin@, Queer Guys, Realistic|

by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2012) opens in the summer of 1987 in El Paso, Texas and follows Aristotle Mendoza’s journey toward self-discovery. Fifteen year old Ari is smart and witty but quite isolated from other boys his own age. However, after meeting Dante Quintana at the pool he begins to feel a renowned interest in life and an unfamiliar feeling for Dante. Benjamin Alire Saenz[1] creates a beautiful flourishing relationship between the two young boys that forces both of them to look inward. Ari and Dante find solace, [...]

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Review: Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:18-05:00January 13th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Book Review, Teen Voices|Tags: Aromantic, asexual, Black, gay, Latin@, PoC, Polyamory, Queer Girls, Queer Guys, Trauma|

Stranger (Viking Juveline, 2014) Many generations ago, a mysterious cataclysm struck the world. Governments collapsed and people scattered, to rebuild where they could. A mutation, "the Change,” arose, granting some people unique powers. Though the area once called Los Angeles retains its cultural diversity, its technological marvels have faded into legend. "Las Anclas" now resembles a Wild West frontier town… where the Sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can warp time to heal his patients, and the distant ruins of an ancient city bristle with deadly crystalline trees that take their jewel-like colors from the clothes of [...]

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