Welcome to Day 5 of the Latine Heritage Month Challenge!

Today's theme is Representation Matters!: Latine book(s) you can relate to. Here are my picks:

• The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

• Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

• A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera

I related to these books for multiple reasons:

•The main characters are all faced with the decision of whether or not to break a toxic cycle in their communities and/or families.

•Each story centers people who refuse to let others dictate who they are and what they are worth because of what they look like.

•Despite facing uphill battles with society, the leads have space to acknowledge their feelings!

In The Last Cuentista, Petra Peña is the only person who remembers the stories & histories but even though everyone else wants her to forget, she refuses to do so. She refuses to assimilate into a culture that remembers nothing & erases her identity. Petra feels an obligation to share what she knows w/ everyone she can because she understands that this wisdom is important for a better future. I feel like this a lot as an historian & educator. I feel the pressure of sharing the knowledge of our past that my family and the larger society have forgotten or never learned. It would be easier to keep my mouth shut & focus on survival but that doesn’t feel right to me.

In Frizzy, Marlene’s mom Paola insists that the only way to make sure her hair is “presentable” is to straighten it every weekend at the Dominican salon. Marlene just wants to be herself and wear her curly hair proudly, which is exactly what her Tía Ruby helps her do after they share how this practice makes them feel. As an Afro-Latina, I felt seen by this story! It has been hard to get my family to stop trying to get me to straighten my hair, but I know that a lot of this bias stems from anti-blackness in the Latine community. It’s been an emotional 12-year journey!

In A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, we have 2 MCs breaking the molds! Aurora Montalban Wright is a physician who is AfroLatina in 1889 Paris which was uncommon. Apollo César Sinclair Robles, who is also AfroLatino, has just assumed his role as a Duke. Both are heavily scrutinized which would make many people want to do their best to blend in. These two do the opposite! They break the chains that their parents set in place to keep them from assuming roles with power and provide each other with space to be vulnerable. It felt incredible to read about a woman like me being cared for and supported fearlessly!

What are some books that have made you feel seen?