Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Here are five of my favorite books by Mexican authors in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, a celebration of the day the Mexican army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1982.  A day of Mexican pride!  Click on the links to make it a day of Mexican reading!

Stef Soto, Taco Queen by Jennifer Torres

Excellent intermediate realistic fiction about a girl whose family owns a food truck!  I wanted Stef to be my bestie and you will, too.  This is the author's first novel and I can't wait for more.  

Grades 4 and up.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

National Book Award and bestselling young adult book about the rift between the traditional and the modern.

Grades 7 and up

¡Vamos!  Let's Go to the Market by Raul the Third

Whether or not you know Spanish, you will learn some new words in this snazzy picture book which won a Pura Belpré award.   There's even a sequel, ¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat! 

Some older kids might know this author from his graphic novel Lowriders in Space!

Grades K and up.  

Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel is a lucha libre thriller by Xavier Garza and a winner of a Pura Belpré honor.  Set in the wrestling ring!

Grades 5 and up.  

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales. Mexican immigrants meet library love. Really, I recommend you just take a look at everything Yuyi Morales has ever illustrated.  She's a children's picture book queen.

Grades K and up.  

Want more?  Check out the muy bien Brightly booklist of 15 Beautiful Books Introduce Mexican Culture and History to Kids.  You may also be interested in the Pura Belpré Award,  a prize given to authors and illustrators of Latinx background whose work "best portrays, affirms and celebrates" the Latinx experience, or the book Planting Stories by Anika Aldamuy Denise about the famous librarian for whom the award is named (but Pura Belpré is Dominican and the illustrator Paola Escobar is Colombian, so maybe read it on another day ;-). 

Vamos y leer!