latina authors – ode to shelf-care

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

“She knew and, despite the weight of it, accepted her role as liberator of a frightened man. María Isabel thought it had always been women who wove the future out of the scraps, always the characters, never the authors. She knew a woman could learn to resent this post, but she would instead find a hundred books to read.“

Full review at LatinoBookReview.com

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia is a multigenerational story that traces the ways women learn to resist power structures and endure suffering with a ferocity born of love and lack of choices. In the beginning, there is María Isabel, a woman whose survival requires learning to read in secret and working as the only woman rolling cigars in a factory. In the midst of the first Cuban revolution in the 1860’s, María Isabel becomes the matriarch of a long line of courageous women navigating an unjust world. Jeanette, five generations later, is at the other end of two revolutions and a diaspora that led part of the family to Miami.

Garcia’s characters are like the heroes of so many families—mothers and guardians who make impossible choices and spend a lifetime making peace with them. Over the span of 150 years, these families witness revolutionary political changes and cope with their inherited traumas. This extensive timeline is evidence of a tendency for patterns, both good and bad, to persist no matter how much one tries to live in isolation from the past. Irrespective of time and place, Of Women and Salt speaks to the universal human desires to survive and to belong.

September 14, 2021 by Sam Olvera Categories: FictionTags: book review, books, Cuba, cuban revolution, diverse books, feminism, Fiction, gabriela garcia, immigration story, latina authors, latinx, latinx books, of women and salt, women of color authors Leave a comment

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

After the sudden death of her husband, Antonia would like nothing more than to recede into her solitary cocoon of grief. However, when the universe conspires to place her in the midst of telenovela-esque, high-stakes drama, she discovers that even after death, her loved ones come back to her in unexpected ways. Between the undocumented young pregnant woman who desperately needs her help, and her sister who has disappeared during a manic episode, Antonia wrestles with questions she feels ill-equipped to deal with on her own. She reluctantly teams up with her neighbors and her three other sisters to simultaneously quell these crises, but she is never quite sure how to prioritize one person’s suffering over another’s, including her own.

As a long-time English teacher, she often defers to the wisdom of her favorite authors in order to make sense of her world, but as the fabric of her life and community unravel, it is the memories of her late husband and family that shape her actions. Alvarez’s novel captures the many contradictions of grieving and relationships—especially the way our loved ones can tug at our heartstrings and inspire change in us even as we wrestle with a jumbled combination of resentment, admiration, and loyalty.

She is keeping to her routines, walking a narrow path through the loss—not allowing her thoughts to stray. Occasionally, she takes sips of sorrow, afraid the big wave might wash her away.

November 8, 2020 by Sam Olvera Categories: FictionTags: 2020 books, 2020 latinx books, afterlife, book review, immigrant story, latina authors, latinx authors, latinx literature, novels, ode to shelf-care, sisters Leave a comment

Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America by Maria Hinojosa

Originally published at Latinobookreview.com

Maria Hinojosa’s memoir tells the vulnerable story of becoming her truest, unapologetic self, deftly woven with decades of American history. From U.S.-funded conflicts throughout Central America, to 9/11, to Hurricane Katrina, to the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, Hinojosa has been on the front lines bringing both humanity and high-quality journalism to these devastating events. Always acutely aware of the human impact of these tragedies, Hinojosa identifies patterns in the political landscape while also humbly depicting the emotional toll of her reporting on her own mental health and family.

Beginning with her family’s move from Mexico to the U.S. when she was a baby, and her childhood growing up in South Side Chicago, Hinojosa formed personal relationships with some of the marginalized populations that she would one day report on. Immigrants, refugees, and grassroots political activists were some of the most impactful members of her community while she was a student at Barnard College. After first taking up the microphone to host a Latino segment on college radio, she went on to become a producer and reporter at major media outlets such as NPR and CNN. Hinojosa paved her way in a white male-dominated industry despite struggling with discrimination, profit-driven management in corporate media, and crippling imposter syndrome.

Her resolve to stay true to her values as a journalist led to some of her greatest work: POC-centered, community-based reporting and the founding of the independent, nonprofit Futuro Media Group. Beyond her career achievements, elements of her story are relatable on so many levels. She is an inspiration to bi-national and multicultural people who never feel “enough” of any specific identity, to women struggling in their industries and in need of strong mentors, and to anyone looking to others for validation. Once I Was You is rich in historical context and insights that will strike a chord with readers across borders and cultures.

“The people and stories I wanted to do focused on the forgotten, the other, those who are thought of as different. At the same time, I aimed to evoke universal themes so that anyone, no matter who they were, could see themselves in my stories.”

October 14, 2020 by Sam Olvera Categories: Biography, Non-fictionTags: 2020 books, Biography, book review, diverse books, feminism, feminist literature, history, immigrant stories, journalism, latina authors, latinx literature, maria hinojosa, memoir, mexican american authors, once I was you, politics, top books of 2020 Leave a comment

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor

31XkWuncUYL *Originally published in Latino Book Review at latinobookreview.com*

Fernanda Melchor’s debut English-translated novel is a haunting masterpiece reminding us that there are no winners when it comes to intolerance. In a rural Mexican village marked by misogyny, addiction, machismo, and homophobia, the Witch is a lifeline for the local women and the target of violence by men who are threatened by her audacity to live outside of their sphere of power. As the second-generation resident witch, she knows she is safest only on the fringes of society. When she is violently murdered and tossed in the irrigation canal, the twisted events leading up to her death and the ugly aftermath reveal how deeply her existence was intertwined in the dysfunctional community relationships.

Through the unfiltered, rambling consciousness of her troubled characters, Melchor reveals the depths of human greed and the desperate actions it drives us to commit. In this place dominated by poverty and violence, the only redemption is the persisting memory of the Witch of La Matosa, a tormented woman who recognized a shared pain among her comrades and had the inexplicable compassion to heal others despite her own suffering. The Witch is both everywhere and nowhere in our society. She is the queer outcast who never got to tell her own story. She is the living fantasy and greatest fear for those oppressed by the patriarchy. She is like so many victims of femicide in Mexico for whom there is no justice.

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July 5, 2020July 6, 2020 by Sam Olvera Categories: Fiction, UncategorizedTags: book review, books, femicide, fernanda melchor, Fiction, homophobia, hurricane season, latina authors, latinx literature, mexican authors, mexico, novels, veracruz, witches, WOC, WOC authors Leave a comment

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

9780593108178 After coming out as a lesbian to her religious, Puerto Rican family, Juliet leaves the Bronx for the first time to take on an internship with a celebrity-status, feminist author in Portland. She arrives in this alien city characterized by a subculture of “hippie white” both elated by the prospect of living and learning with her feminist hero and wounded by the rift her identity has created between her and her mother.

The summer continues to be an era of firsts for Juliet as she navigates heartbreak, intersectional feminism, and a queer community where notions of relationships and gender are an infinite spectrum. She experiences the pain of racism when it comes from a trusted loved one and the joy of finding women-of-color mentors and confidants. While she spends much of her time researching the lives of bold women whose stories have been nearly erased by history, she also takes on the challenge of redefining what womanhood means to her.

In this novel, Gabby Rivera beautifully renders the earnestness of Juliet’s heart—a young woman eager to love and live authentically. Outside of the confines of the women’s studies classes and feminist book that first inspired her, Juliet comes face-to-face with the hurtful reality that even the feminist community is full of well-intended individuals who are oblivious to their own privilege and supremacist outlook. Rivera explores nuanced themes of accountability and forgiveness, highlighting the importance of respecting one’s instincts and staying true to oneself above all else.

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We could set out words on these sun-drenched branches and let the breeze guide us to resolution. For a split second, I wondered if there was a price to pay for this type of peace.

“Weird is the only way to live,” she said, her faith solid.

November 30, 2019 by Sam Olvera Categories: FictionTags: book review, female authors, feminism, Fiction, Gabby Rivera, Juliet Takes a Breath, latina authors, latinx authors, latinx literature, WOC authors, YA Leave a comment