Sept. 10, 2025 – National Hispanic American Heritage Month, Sept. 15-Oct. 15, celebrates Hispanic and Latino culture and history.
Started in 1969 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson, it expended to the 30-day Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. The month starts Sept. 15 because it is the the independence day of five Central American countries. Within the month, other Latin American countries celebrate their independence as well. National Hispanic Heritage Month traditionally honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans and celebrates heritage rooted in all Latin American countries.
These recently published novels reflect just some of the diversity of these communities. From romance to horror and historical fiction to contemporary literature, there are stories here for everyone.
"Familia" by Lauren E. Rico (2024)
As the fact checker for a popular magazine, Gabby DiMarco believes in absolute, verifiable Truths – until they throw the facts of her own life into question. The genealogy test she took as research for an article has yielded a baffling result: Gabby has a sister – one who’s been desperately trying to find her. Except, as Gabby’s beloved parents would confirm if they were still alive, that’s impossible.
Isabella Ruiz can still picture the face of her baby sister, who disappeared from the streets of San Juan twenty-five years ago. Isabella, an artist, has fought hard for the stable home and loving marriage she has today – yet the longing to find Marianna has never left. At last, she’s found a match, and Gabby has agreed to come to Puerto Rico.
But Gabby, as defensive and cautious as Isabella is impulsive, offers no happy reunion. She insists there’s been a mistake. And Isabella realizes that even if this woman is her sister, she may not want to be. With nothing – or perhaps so much – in common, Gabby and Isabella set out to find the truth, though it means risking everything they’ve known for an uncertain future – and a past that harbors yet more surprises.
"Family Lore" by Elizabeth Acevedo (2023)
Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides she wants a living wake – a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she's led – her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else's? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila.
But Flor isn't the only person with secrets. Matilde has tried for decades to cover the extent of her husband's infidelity, but she must now confront the true state of her marriage. Pastora is typically the most reserved sister, but Flor's wake motivates this driven woman to solve her siblings problems. Camila is the youngest sibling, and often the forgotten one, but she's decided she no longer wants to be taken for granted. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own: Yadi is reuniting with her first love, who was imprisoned when they were both still kids; Ona is married for years and attempting to conceive. Ona must decide whether it's worth it to keep trying to have a child, and the anthropology research that's begun to feel lackluster.
"How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water" by Angie Cruz (2022)
Write this down: Cara Romero wants to work. Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando.
"Isabel and the Rogue" by Liana de la Rosa (2024)
Isabel Luna Valdés has long since resigned herself to being the "forgotten" Luna sister. But thanks to familial connections to the Mexican ambassador in London, wallflower Isabel is poised to unearth any British intelligence hidden by the ton that might aid Mexico during the French Occupation.
Though she slips easily from crowded ballrooms into libraries and private studies, Isabel's search is hampered by trysting couples and prowling rogues – including the rakish Captain Sirius Dawson. As a covert agent for the British Home Office, Sirius makes a game of earning the aristocracy's confidence. He spends his days befriending foolish politicians and seducing well-born ladies in order to learn their secrets. But after he spies a certain sharp-tongued Luna sister lurking in the shadows where no proper debutante should venture, it's clear Sirius is outmatched, outwitted, and soon to be outmaneuvered by the one woman he can't resist.
Their mutual attraction is undeniable, but when Isabel discovers private correspondence that could turn the tide of political turmoil in Mexico, she's willing to do whatever it takes to protect her country – even if this means ignoring her heart and courting danger.
"Neruda on the Park" by Cleyvis Natera (2022)
The Guerreros have lived in Nothar Park, a predominantly Dominican part of the city, for over twenty years. When the crash of a wrecking ball signals the demolition of an old neighboring tenement, Eusebia, an elder of the community, quietly devises an increasingly dangerous series of schemes to stop construction of the luxury condos that will take their place.
Meanwhile Eusebia's daughter Luz, a rising associate at a top Manhattan law firm, strives to live the bougie lifestyle her parents worked hard to give her. While her father, Vladimir, secretly designs their retirement home in the Dominican Republic and Eusebia begins masterminding a neighborhood crime ring to save their homes, Luz is wholly distracted with a sweltering romance with the white, handsome developer of the company her mother so vehemently opposes. And when mother and daughter collide, at odds on what it means to save their community, tensions ramp up in Nothar Park, and build toward a near fatal climax.
"Our Share of Night" by Mariana Enriquez (2023)
In 1981, a young father and son set out on a road trip across Argentina, devastated by the mysterious death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travels to her family home near Iguazau Falls, where they must confront the horrific legacy she has bequeathed. For the woman they are grieving came from a family like no other – a centuries-old secret society called the Order that pursues eternal life through ghastly rituals. For Gaspar, the son, this cult is his destiny. As Gaspar grows up he must learn to harness his developing supernatural powers, while struggling to understand what kind of man his mother wanted him to be. Meanwhile, Gaspar's father tries to protect his son from his wife's violent family while still honoring the woman he loved so desperately.
"Silver Nitrate" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2023)
Montserrat has always been overlooked. She's a talented sound editor, but she's left out of the boys' club running the film industry in '90s Mexico City. And she's all-but-invisible to her best friend Tristn, a charming if faded soap opera star, even though she's been in love with him since childhood. Then Tristn discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he has a way to change their lives – even if his tales of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy.
The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed. Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristn to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse, but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristn begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend. As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristan might find out that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.
"The Girls in Queens" by Christine Kandic Torres (2022)
Brisma and Kelly, two young Latinas growing up along Clement Moore Avenue in Queens, would do anything for each other. They keep each other's secrets, hide from their mothers' chancletas, and ward off creepy neighbors. At the beginning of high school, Brisma falls deeply in love with Brian, the local baseball legend. Always the wallflower to the vibrant and alluring Kelly, Brisma is secretly thrilled to be chosen by Brian, to finally have someone all to herself. As the three kids learn to play the roles that have been set before them, they create a cacophony of unrealized hopes and dreams, smoldering embers that finally find some oxygen.
Years later, Brisma and Kelly haven't spoken to Brian, ever since a backyard party gone wrong, but Los Mets are on a historic run for the playoffs and the three old friends – now on the cusp of adulthood – are brought back together again. Brisma finds herself once again inextricably drawn to Brian, only to once again find Kelly standing in the way. When a sexual assault accusation emerges, both girls rush to support and defend Brian. While Kelly remains staunchly by his side, Brisma begins to have doubts as old memories resurface of her own relationship with him. As the two lifelong friends prepare to bring down the other in order to take what they both believe is owed to them, they have to decide if their shared past is enough to sustain their future.
"Vampires of el Norte" by Isabel Cañas (2023)
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters – her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.
Believing Nena dead, Něstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind. When the United States invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Něstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros.
But the shock of their reunion – and Nena's rage at Něstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago – is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh. And unless Nena and Něstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.
"What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez" by Claire Jimenez (2023)
The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen year old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in "Catfight," a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time?
The years since Ruthy's disappearance haven't been easy on the Ramirez family. It's 2008, and their mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, Jessica juggles a newborn baby with her hospital job, and Nina, after four successful years at college, has returned home to medical school rejections and is forced to work in the mall folding tiny bedazzled thongs at the lingerie store. After seeing maybe-Ruthy on their screen, Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to where the show is filmed in search of their long lost sister.
When Dolores catches wind of their scheme, she insists on joining, along with her pot-stirring holy roller best friend, Irene. What follows is a family road trip and reckoning that will force the Ramirez women to finally face the past and look toward a future – with or without Ruthy in it.