Puerto Rican Archives

Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook by Illyanna Maisonet, photographs by Dan Liberti and Erika P. Rodriguez [in Shelf Awareness]

11 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Latina/o/x, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican, Repost

Diasporican by Illyanna Maisonet, the country's first Puerto Rican food columnist for a major newspaper (San Francisco Chronicle), is an exquisite collection of recipes for a host of mouthwatering dishes. Despite its subtitle, Maisonet insists "this is not a Puerto Rican cookbook. This book is for...

Angel & Hannah by Ishle Yi Park [in Shelf Awareness]

14 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean American, Latina/o/x, Poetry, Puerto Rican, Repost, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Poet/singer Ishle Yi Park crafts an elegiac debut novel-in-verse featuring star-crossed teens, a "rebel/ Romeo & Juliet." From the opening line of Angel & Hannah, Park immediately commands complicity in sharing something secret involving diverse backgrounds: "Psst," she warns, "Ven acá. Illuwah" – "come here," in Spanish,...

Happiness Will Follow by Mike Hawthorne [in Booklist]

23 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Latina/o/x, Memoir, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Born Michael Anthony Hawthorne, his last name was “swiftly pilfered from [his] father” by his Puerto Rican mother “to keep [him] safe in ways she never was.” Yet surviving into adulthood was a near-superhuman feat: his single mother’s fierce love came with horrific stipulations...

American Like Me: Reflections on Life between Cultures by America Ferrera [in Booklist]

04 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Arab American, Audio, Black/African American, Chinese American, Filipina/o American, Haitian American, Hawaiian, Indian African, Korean American, Latina/o/x, Memoir, Nonfiction, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Puerto Rican, Repost, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW “I believe that culture shapes identity and defines possibility; that it teaches us who we are, what to believe, and how to dream.” Actor-activist America Ferrera in her editorial and authorial debut, highlights her distinct Honduran American identity and invites 31 others she “deeply...

Miguel’s Brave Knight: Young Cervantes and His Dream of Don Quixote by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Raul Colón [in Shelf Awareness]

17 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Cuban American, European, Latina/o/x, Nonfiction, Poetry, Puerto Rican, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Miguel de Cervantes survived his onerous childhood – his gambler father's imprisonments, his family's constant fleeing from debtors – by losing himself in stories. Inspired by his mother's tales, "dazzling plays," and "storytellers on street corners," Miguel imagines he will someday conjure his own...

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older [in School Library Journal]

01 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Caribbean American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Puerto Rican, Repost, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does it mean when paintings start morphing, shifting, and even weeping actual tears? For Sierra Santiago, who thought she would spend her summer making the mural of her dreams, these newly moving pictures are clear warnings...

Ghetto Brother: Warrior to Peacemaker by Julian Voloj, illustrated by Claudia Ahlering, introduction by Jeff Chang

24 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Latina/o/x, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican, Young Adult Readers

Given that gang violence, unfortunately, makes for all-too-familiar headlines, the story of a gang truce is truly noteworthy news to be lauded and emulated. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, New York's Bronx was both a haven for poor ethnic communities pushed out of Manhattan, and...

Discover WeNeedDiverseBooks with Ellen Wittlinger’s Hard Love

07 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Puerto Rican, WeNeedDiverseBooks, WNDB.SummerReadingSeries2015, Young Adult Readers

Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan L. Roth

11 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Caribbean, Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican

Co-authors Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, whose last project à deux was the glorious The Mangrove Tree set in the tiny African country of Eritrea, travel south to the Caribbean to present another memorable story of preservation and conservation. Welcome to Puerto Rico, home of the Puerto Rican parrot, also...

Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso

23 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Memoir, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican

Warning: This harrowing memoir is the most difficult book I've read this year. Since I actually started it in 2012 (highly recommended by one of my editors), it's actually the most difficult book I've read over two years (and more). To get to the final...

Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago

29 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Caribbean American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Puerto Rican

I think I must have been a Boricua in a former life. I can't seem to stay away too long from La Isla del Encanto (especially my favorite Isla Culebrita), and I get the fiercest cravings for Bebo's and mofongo (it's all about a full...

We the Animals by Justin Torres

25 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, Puerto Rican

As this debut novel is all of 125 pages (in hardcover), you have little excuse not to read it in a single sitting ...

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano

21 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Caribbean, Caribbean American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Puerto Rican, Young Adult Readers

Not to confuse anyone, but I have to start with p. 177 because that's where you'll find a reference to "that cool new show Sesame Street" (which debuted 1969), because first-time novelist Sonia Manzano has been playing Sesame Street's Maria for the last 30+ years! While the title...

Welcome to My Neighborhood: A Barrio A•B•C by Quiara Alegría Hudes, illustrated by Shino Arihara

24 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese American, Latina/o/x, Puerto Rican

"A is for abuela. And abandoned car," begins an adventurous afternoon for two friends – one Latina, the other Asian Pacific American – as they explore the familiar yet unique streets and corners of the little girl's neighborhood. From the Chino-Latino corner store to the fire hydrant...

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