Middle Grade Novels

Arturo Zamora must save his family's restaurant before a land developer destroys it. He teams up with the funny, cute new girl, Carmen, to thwart the developer's plans and help bring the community together (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pickup, or check out as an Ebook through MackinVia.

Twelve-year-old Malú is the new kid at school and nothing goes right. But when she meets a group of other misfits and starts a punk band, she must find a way to express herself even in the face of the anti-punk administration (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pickup, or check out as an Ebook through MackinVia.

After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus's mother takes him and his younger brother, who has Down syndrome, to Puerto Rico to visit relatives they do not remember or have never met, and while there Marcus starts searching for his father, who left their family ten years ago and is somewhere on the island (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pick up.

To prevent the Mayan gods from battling each other and destroying the world, thirteen-year-old Zane must unravel an ancient prophecy, stop an evil god, and discover how the physical disability that makes him reliant on a cane also connects him to his father and his ancestry (Follett Destiny). Recommended for fans of Rick Riordan. Request through curbside pick up.

After his quick-tempered father gets in a fight and is sent back to jail, sixth-grader Bryan, known for being quiet and thoughtful, snaps and follows new friend Mike into trouble (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pick up.

In 1960s New York, fifth-grader Ruthie, a Cuban-Jewish immigrant, must rely on books, art, her family, and friends in her multicultural neighborhood when an accident puts her in a body cast (Follett Destiny). Winner of the Pura Belpre award. Request through curbside pickup.

Lane DiSanti, the granddaughter of a wealthy heiress, has no interest in joining the beauty pageant/girls club that her family helped create. She decides to find like-minded friends and leaves clues that will invite a certain kind of person to her home where they will form their own group. Enter foodie Aster Douglas, aspiring-journalist Ofelia Castillo, and bird-watcher Cat Garcia. The four of them do not come together easily, but when they find out that the main prize for winning the beauty contest is a hat made of bird feathers, the girls discover a sisterhood they didn't know they needed while they attempt to sabotage the pageant and stop the feathered hat from being used (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pickup.

Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead. Everyone in Jaime's small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that's known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed--like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There's only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico. Inspired by true events. (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pick up. Look out for the ebook, and the sequel coming to our library collection soon!

Ya Novels

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking (Follet Destiny). However, first love and slam poetry are about to change her life. Written in verse. Winner of the Pura Belpre, National Book, and Michael L. Printz awards. Request through curbside pick up, and look out for the audiobook (read by the author) coming soon to MackinVia.

Told in two voices, when Arthur, a summer intern from Georgia, and Ben, a native New Yorker, meet it seems like fate, but after three attempts at dating fail they wonder if the universe is pushing them together or apart (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pick up.

In early 1940s Los Angeles, Mexican Americans, Marisela and Lorena, work in canneries all day then jitterbug with sailors all night with their zoot suit wearing younger brother, Ray, as escort until the night racial violence leads to murder. Includes historical note. (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pick up.

In this reimagining of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," teenager Zuri Benitez is deeply proud of her Afro-Latino roots in their Brooklyn neighborhood, and is disappointed as she watches Bushwick gentrify. And when the wealthy Darcy family moves in, Zuri wants nothing to do with them, especially their two teenage sons, even though her older sister, Janae, falls for the charming Ainsley. The other brother, Darius, is especially obnoxious, but her dislike shifts into understanding and even affection.

Sixteen-year-old gay African-American student Moss Jeffries feels stuck in his run-down West Oakland High School. Still mourning the death of his father, shot by police years earlier, a violent incident at his school prompts Moss to channel his simmering anger into community activism against a corrupt authority system (Follett Destiny). Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award. Request through curbside pick up.

Camilla del Valle is the teen every girl in Mexico City envies, with a father who does voice-overs for American movies and a glamorous mother who acts in telenovela films and a life of luxury. Everything changes when her mother is cast in an American television show and they have to move to Los Angeles. There, Cammi meets with racism at her posh, private Polestar Academy, where the white students assume she is there on scholarship. Cammi plays along, trying to get back at them for their stereotypes, but soon she has to wonder if she isn't fooling herself instead (Follett Destiny). Request through curbside pick up, or check out as ebook through MackinVia.

Nonfiction/Poetry

Musician, botanist, baseball player, pilot—the Latinos featured in this collection, Bravo!, come from many different countries and from many different backgrounds. Celebrate their accomplishments and their contributions to a collective history and a community that continues to evolve and thrive today! Biographical poems include: Aida de Acosta, Arnold Rojas, Baruj Benacerraf, César Chávez, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, Félix Varela, George Meléndez, José Martí, Juan de Miralles, Juana Briones, Julia de Burgos, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Paulina Pedroso, Pura Belpré, Roberto Clemente, Tito Puente, Ynes Mexia, Tomás Rivera (Henry Holt & Company). Request through curbside pickup.

Coming soon to our library

Quijana is a girl in pieces. One-half Guatemalan, one-half American: When Quijana's Guatemalan cousins move to town, her dad seems ashamed that she doesn't know more about her family's heritage. One-half crush, one-half buddy: When Quijana meets Zuri and Jayden, she knows she's found true friends. But she can't help the growing feelings she has for Jayden. One-half kid, one-half grown-up: Quijana spends her nights Skyping with her ailing grandma and trying to figure out what's going on with her increasingly hard-to-reach brother. In the course of this immersive and beautifully written novel, Quijana must figure out which parts of herself are most important, and which pieces come together to make her whole. This lyrical debut from Rebecca Balcárcel is a heartfelt poetic portrayal of a girl growing up, fitting in, and learning what it means to belong (Chronicle Books). Coming soon as an ebook in our MackinVia collection!

Sequel to The Only Road. Jaime Rivera is an undocumented teen who came to the United States from Guatemala hoping for a better life. While his cousin, Angela, seems to fit in at school quickly, Jaime struggles and wishes to be with his family in his native country. But news of gang violence hitting close to home makes returning to his parents and Abuela impossible. Jaime sketches his observations in his sketchbook and finds hope in a few unexpected allies (Mackin). Coming soon as an ebook in MackinVia, and a physical book in our library.

When resentment surges during the Great Depression in a Texas border town, Estrella, fifteen, organizes a protest against the treatment of tejanos and soon finds herself with her mother and baby brother in Mexico (Mackin). Coming soon as an ebook in our MackinVia Collection!

A powerful exploration of love, identity, and self-worth through the eyes of a fierce, questioning Puerto Rican teen. Fifteen-year-old Verdad doesn't think she has time for love. She's still struggling to process the recent death of her best friend, Blanca; dealing with the high expectations of her hardworking Puerto Rican mother and the absence of her remarried father; and keeping everyone at a distance. But when she meets Danny, a new guy at school, who happens to be trans, all bets are off. Verdad suddenly has to deal with her mother's disapproval of her relationship with Danny as well as her own prejudices and questions about her identity, and Danny himself, who is comfortable in his skin but keeping plenty of other secrets (Carolrhoda Books). Coming soon as an ebook to our MackinVia collection!