Exploring the Caribbean American Experience With Books for Kids & Teens
June is Caribbean American Heritage Month. It honors the impact and contributions of Caribbean Americans to American society and culture and is celebrated throughout the country with festivals and events. This year we'd like to encourage you to celebrate it through books so we've compiled reading lists for kids and teens (many available as e-books) that explore the Caribbean American experience and introduce young readers to notable Caribbean Americans.
Elementary
Across the Bay by Carlos Aponte
All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Mike Curato
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
Anna Carries Water by Olive Senior; illustrated by Laura James
Auntie Luce's Talking Paintings by Francie Latour; illustrated by Ken Daley
Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics! by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Rafael López
Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers
Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci; illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
Eight Days: A Story of Haiti by Edwidge Danticat; illustrated by Alix Delinois
Every Little Thing by Bob Marley & Cedella Marley; illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
The Field by Baptiste Paul; illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara
Grandma’s Records by Eric Velasquez
Growing Up Pedro by Matt Tavares
How Tia Lola Came to Stay Visit by Julia Alvarez
Islandborn (Lola) by Junot Diaz; illustrated by Leo Espinosa
Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Juan Bobo Goes to Work: A Puerto Rican Folktale by Marisa Montes; illustrated by Joe Cepeda
A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice by Nadio Hohn; illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Look Back! by Trish Cooke; illustrated by Caroline Binch
Luis Paints the World by Terry Farish; illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Agra Deedy; illustrated by Michael Allen Austin
Martí’s Song for Freedom / Martí y sus versos por la libertad by Emma Otheguy
My Mommy Medicine by Edwidge Danticat; illustrated by Shannon Wright
Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez
One Love by Cedella Marley; illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise; illustrated by Paola Escobar
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter; illustrated by Raúl Colón
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Eric Velasquez
Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx by Jonah Winter; illustrated by Edel Rodriguez
Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina; illustrated by Claudio Muñoz
Upper Elementary to Middle Grade
Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle by Hilda Eunice Burgos
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Forest World by Margarita Engle
Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
Gone to Drift by Diana McCaulay
Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Serafina’s Promise by Ann E. Burg
Silver Meadows Summer by Emma Otheguy
Young Adult
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
The Art of White Roses by Viviana Prado-Núñez
Becoming Maria by Sonia Manzano
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite
The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
In the Key of Nira Ghani by Natasha Deen
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather
Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
This Train is Being Held by Ismee Williams
Water in May by Ismee Williams
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!