Tired of boring grammar drills and passively consuming Spanish content? Want to engage with the Spanish language on a deeper level but not quite sure where to start? Look no further! Ranging from biographical to fantasy, romance to horror, here is a selection of some of the most prolific Latinx and Spanish language authors and books that will take your Spanish to the next level! 

Maria García Esperón

Hailing from Mexico City, Maria García Esperón is a Mexican writer, journalist and screenwriter. Maria is a  dedicated lover of history and ancient languages so some of her novels feature ancient civilizations and re-imaginings of classical mythology. If you love ancient Mexican history and culture, you’ll probably enjoy the highly acclaimed Copo del algodón, where Esperón tells the story of a young girl living in Tenochtitlan before its fall.

   Notable books: Copo del algodón (Cotton Ball), Dido para Eneas

Isabel Allende

Dubbed the “world’s most read Spanish-language author,” Chilean author Isabel Allende is a god-send for fantasy and magical realism fans. She wrote her debut novel “House of the Spirits” while exiled in Venezuela after a coup led by Augusto Pinochet. Major themes in her novels involve the topic of freedom and what it means to be a liberated person.

Notable books: House of Spirits, City of Beasts

Francisco Jiménez

Want to read a true story of resilience? The biographical story of Francisco Jiménez will truly inspire you. Born the second of eight children in Tlaquepaque, Mexico in the 1930’s, Jiménez endured the onslaughts and turbulence of his family’s immigration to the United States. From the age of six, he underwent back-breaking labor working the crops until his family was deported when he was in the eighth grade. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child is his testimony of these events. He has written picture books that share the story of his life including Mariposa, which shares his experience of being unable to speak English in the first grade.

Notable works: La Mariposa (The Butterfly), Cajas de Cartón (The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child)

Marisol “Sol” Ceh Moo

If you are interested in incredible stories in Spanish from a Maya perspective, then you’ll love Marisol “Sol” Ceh Moo. A Yucatec Maya novelist, essayist, poet, translator and interpreter, Sol is  the first-ever woman novelist in the Yucatec Mayan language. Sol translates her works into Spanish herself and she has won many prestigious awards for her mastery of storytelling in the Spanish language. Her acclaimed 2011 novel, The Call of the Tunk’ul Drums is a story about the peasant farmer rebellion of 1839, a precursor to the 1847 Caste War revolt against white Spanish-Mexican dominion. Sol is a big proponent of the Maya language, literature and culture.

 Notable works: Teya, Heart of a Woman (Un Corazón de Mujer) , The Call of the Tunk’ul Drums (El llamado de los tunk'ules)

Carlos Ruiz Zafón

If you love gothic mysteries, cinematic noir themes, and stunningly twisted characters, then Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author for you. Hailing from Barcelona, Zafón started his career in advertising and eventually made his way to Los Angeles as a screenwriter. He is the most widely published Spanish author and has been published in 42 countries.

Notable books: Marina, Shadow of the Wind (La Sombra del viento)

Julia Alvarez

If you love Coming of Age novels and themes exploring cultural identity, then Julia Alvarez is the author for you. Born in New York to a political family, Dominican-American Julia Alvarez spent some of her formative years in the Dominican Republic until her father’s botched attempt to overthrow Trujillo’s dictatorship forced her family out of the country. Her acclaimed book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent is a biographical retelling of the experience while exploring themes of assimilation and cultural identity.

 Notable books: How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents (De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento), In the Time of the Butterflies (En el Tiempo de las Mariposas)

José Ignacio Valenzuela

If you are a lover of drama and crazy plot points, you’ll become a huge fan of Chilean author José Ignacio Valenzuela. Valenzuela is both an author and a screenwriter writing not only novels but dramas and telenovelas. Valenzuela also wrote the Netflix hit Who Killed Sara, a thrilling ‘whodunnit' series about a brother’s quest to avenge his murdered sister. See if you can watch the whole series in Spanish with Spanish subtitles.

Notable works: To The End of The World (Hacia el fin delmundo) 

Alma Flor Ada

Born into a family of poets and story-tellers, Cuban-American Alma Flor Ada grew up in Cuba where she lived in a house owned by Cuban Revolutionary Ignacio Agromonte. Trading in her 15th coming-of-age quinceanera birthday party for a Study Abroad experience in the U.S., Alma saw the racism against Mexican-Americans in the United States and has since made bilingual and multicultural education her life’s work. Themes in her novels often target the experience of Latinx children in the United States. She has been awarded the prestigious OHTLI Award by the Mexican government.

 Notable books: My name is Maria Isabel (Me llamo Maria Isabelle), Where the Flame Trees Bloom (Alla donde florecen los flamboyanes)

Sandra Cisneros

Sandra Cisneros is a key figure in the Chicano literature space. Her life growing up the only girl out of seven children and having to move constantly between the United States and Mexico informs many of the themes in her novels. Her books explore themes of income inequality, race, assimilation, misogyny and cultural hybridity. Sandra often incorporates bilingualism in her writing, mixing Spanish words with English words in the translations of her works. Her influential novel, The House on Mango Street is a great coming of age story that follows a Chicana living in Chicago in 1984.

Notable Books: The House on Mango Street (La Casa en Mango Street), Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (El arroyo de la llorona)

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Born in Bakersfield, California, Mexican-American Pam Muñoz Ryan has a large body of work catering to young adults and early readers. She has won many awards for her contribution to multiculturalism in literature. Her most notable work is Esperanza Rising, a play about the life of a young Mexican girl living during the dust-bowl of the 1930’s Great Depression.

Notable books: Esperanza Rising (Esperanza Renace)

We have loved reading these authors and hope that some or all on this list bring you reading enjoyment. From here we hope that you will continue to discover a world of Spanish language stories of all genres. All books suggested on this list are appropriate for beginner and intermediate learners. Happy reading!

If you would like to improve your Spanish, come learn with us or send over an inquiry email to us at say@naatikmexico.org!