The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia AlvarezThe Cemetery of Untold Stories
Poverty, by America

Our Migrant Souls

In Our Migrant Souls, the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Héctor Tobar delivers a definitive and personal exploration of what it means to be Latino in the United States right now.

“Latino” is the most open-ended and loosely defined of the major race categories in the United States, and also one of the most rapidly growing. Composed as a direct address to the young people who identify or have been classified as “Latino,” Our Migrant Souls is the first account of the historical and social forces that define Latino identity.

Taking on the impacts of colonialism, public policy, immigration, media, and pop culture, Our Migrant Souls decodes the meaning of “Latino” as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States, and gives voice to the anger and the hopes of young Latino people who have seen Latinidad transformed into hateful tropes and who have faced insult and division―a story as old as this country itself.

More Non-Juvenile Books

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  • In The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride explores the intertwined lives of the residents of Chicken Hill, a neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans coexist amid struggles and secrets. As the community rallies to protect a deaf boy from institutionalization, the narrative reveals the deep bonds of love and resilience that sustain them, even in the face of adversity and the oppressive forces of society.
  • The House on Mango Street is a poignant coming-of-age novel that follows Esperanza Cordero as she navigates her childhood in Chicago, exploring her identity and aspirations. Through a series of beautifully crafted vignettes, Sandra Cisneros captures the essence of self-discovery and the importance of telling one's story, making it a cherished classic in American literature.
  • Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery and one of the greatest neighborhood novels of all time.