Here at Epic Reads, any chance we get to shout from the rooftops about upcoming books we’re excited for is a chance we’re going to take! This time ’round, we’re talking about upcoming books by Latine authors.
One of the best ways to support your new favorite author or a book you’re looking forward to is by preordering–and trust us when we say you don’t want to miss these books. Written by Latine authors about Latine characters, filled with fantasy adventures, mall elf adventures, and heartfelt journeys of self-discovery, here are 10 excellent books you can (and totally should!) preorder.
10 Upcoming YA Books by Latine Authors
THAT YOU CAN PREORDER NOW
1. Finding My Elf by David Valdes
Single All the Way meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this festive romcom about Cam, who’s trying to find the “the one” and also trying to find himself—while spending winter break working at a hectic Santa’s Village.
Escaping to NYU for college didn’t turn out the way Cameron planned—he’s flunking his theater classes, about to lose his scholarship, and he still hasn’t found anyone he can call his “people.” When he gets home for winter break, he’s so desperate to avoid a Conversation with his dad that he takes the first acting job he can get—as a mall elf. Despite how Scroogey he feels, the plus side is that there’s a cash prize for the most festive of Santa’s helpers.
But the competition is fierce—especially from fellow elf Marco. Christmas spirit oozes out of his veins. At first Cam is determined to see him as nothing but a rival, but as they spend more time together, Cam starts to second-guess himself. What if he’s finally found his people here—in the fakest consumerist nightmare place on Earth, where he least expected it?
- On sale November 7, 2023
2. Lucero by Maya Motayne
The thrilling finale to the #1 Sunday Times and Los Angeles Times bestselling Nocturna trilogy—a sweeping and epic Dominican-inspired fantasy about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must save their kingdom in the final battle between good and evil magic. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Sabaa Tahir, and Roseanne A. Brown.
In the aftermath of Sombra’s return, the balance between light and dark magic has been destroyed and chaos has broken out in Castallan and around the world. Sombra’s shadows have taken over to create monstrous versions of everyone Finn and Alfie love, and with war between Castallan and Englass looming, the prince and the thief must band together one last time—to save their entire world.
To stop the magical imbalance, they must find the stone relics of Sombra’s body before the god can unite the pieces and regain his full strengthonce more.
But the laws of magic no longer apply, and with their own magic—and even the laws of time itself—drastically changing at every turn, Finn and Alfie are left on their own to stop Sombra and fulfill their prophecy before it is too late and the darkness reigns.
Will they restore balance to their world or will its light be gone forever?
- On sale December 26, 2023
3. Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta
An unforgettable YA debut about two Latina teens growing up in East Oakland as they discover that the world is brimming with messy complexities, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Erika L. Sánchez.
Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant–by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.
Things are hella complicated.
Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?
From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.
- On sale December 26, 2023
4. Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos
A nerdy high schooler learns to embrace his main-character energy in this witty and heart-healing ode to movie tropes, meet-cutes, and LGBTQ+ love.
Photographer and film buff Daniel Sanchez learned a long time ago that the only way to get by in an allistic world is to mask his autism and follow the script. Which means he knows that boisterous, buff, and beautiful soccer superstars like his best friend, Mona Sinclair, shouldn’t be wasting time hanging out with introverts who prefer being behind the camera.
So when Daniel meets a new classmate, Gabe Mendes, who is tall, mysterious, nonbinary, and—somehow—as cool as Mona, Daniel knows exactly how this is going to play out. Mona and Gabe will meet cute, win their nominations for Homecoming Court, and ride off into the sunset together. Daniel just needs to do a little behind-the-scenes directing.
But matchmaking means stepping into the mystifying and illogical world of love, dating, and relationships, where nothing is as it seems and no one knows their lines. And when Daniel finds himself playing a starring role in this romance, he’ll question everything he thought he knew about himself and his place in the world.
- On sale February 6, 2024
5. Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories, edited by Sandra Proudman
These sixteen stories by award-winning and bestselling YA authors center a Latinx point of view in an empowering anthology that reimagines classics through fantasy, science fiction, and with a dash of magic, for fans of A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN and RECLAIM THE STARS
In classic stories remixed, Latinx characters take center stage
Pride and Prejudice is launched into outer space, Frankenstein is plunged into the depths of the ocean, and The Great Gatsby floats to an island off the coast of Costa Rica.
A shape-shifter gives up her life to save the boy she loves from an evil bruja. La Ciguapa covets a little mermaid’s heart of gold. Two star-crossed teens fall in love while the planet burns around them.
Whether characters fall in love, battle foes, or grow through grief, each story will empower readers to see themselves as the heroes of the stories that make our world.
Featuring original stories from:
- Olivia Abtahi
- David Bowles
- Zoraida Córdova
- Saraciea J. Fennell
- Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
- Torrey Maldonado
- Jasminne Mendez
- Anna Meriano
- Amparo Ortiz
- Laura Pohl
- Sandra Proudman
- NoNieqa Ramos
- Monica Sanz
- Eric Smith
- Ari Tison
- Alexandra Villasante
- On sale February 6, 2024
- Preorder Relit now!
6. The Diablo’s Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa
From the author of The Wicked Bargain comes a high-stakes race to defeat a curse designed to kill about a teen demon who wants to be human, a boy cursed to die young, and the murderous island destined to bury them both.
Dami is a demon determined to cancel every deal they’ve ever made in order to tether their soul to earth and become human again. There’s just one person standing in their Silas. An irresistibly (and stubborn) cute boy cursed to die young, except for the deal with Dami that is keeping him alive. If they cancel the deal, Silas is dead. Unless… they can destroy the curse that has plagued Silas’s family for generations. But to do so, Dami and Silas are going to have to work together. That is, if the curse doesn’t kill them first. . . .
- On sale February 20, 2024
7. Infinity Kings by Adam Silvera
In this epic conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Infinity Cycle, two brothers find themselves in a heartbreaking war against one another. The hardcover edition features a reversible jacket with two stunning covers by Kevin Tong and Meybis Ruiz Cruz!
After the ultimate betrayal, Emil must rise up as a leader to stop his brother before he becomes too powerful. Even if that means pushing away Ness and Wyatt as they compete for his heart so he can focus on the war.
Brighton has a legion of followers at his command, but when he learns about an ancient scythe that can kill the unkillable, that’s all he will need to become unstoppable against Emil and other rising threats.
Meanwhile, Maribelle aligns with her greatest enemy to resurrect her lost love, and Ness infiltrates political circles to stop Iron from ruling the country, but both missions lead to tragedies that will change everyone’s lives forever.
As the Infinity Son and the Infinity Reaper go to war, who will be crowned the Infinity King?
- On sale March 12, 2024
8. This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie
Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, This is Me Trying is a profound and tender YA contemporary novel exploring grief, love, and guilt from author Racquel Marie.
Growing up, Bryce, Beatriz, and Santiago were inseparable. But when Santiago moved away before high school, their friendship crumbled. Three years later, Bryce is gone, Beatriz is known as the dead boy’s girlfriend, and Santiago is back. The last thing Beatriz wants is to reunite with Santiago, who left all her messages unanswered while she drowned alone in grief over Bryce’s death by suicide. Even if she wasn’t angry, Santiago’s attempts to make amends are jeopardizing her plan to keep the world at arm’s length–equal parts protection and punishment–and she swore to never let anyone try that again. Santiago is surprised to find the once happy-go-lucky Bea is now the gothic town loner, though he’s unsurprised she wants nothing to do with him. But he can’t fix what he broke between them while still hiding what led him to cut her off in the first place, and it’s harder to run from his past when he isn’t states away anymore. Inevitably drawn back together by circumstance and history, Beatriz and Santiago navigate grief, love, mental illness, forgiveness, and what it means to try to build a future after unfathomable loss.
- On sale April 16, 2024
9. Brownstone by Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia
Won in a seven-house auction, this standalone YA graphic novel chronicles a biracial Latinx teen’s summer with her estranged Guatemalan American father and her struggles with language and cultural barriers between them as they fix up his old building with his Latinx neighbors, each with their own ideas about her identity.
Almudena has always wondered about the dad she never met.
Now, with her WASP-y mother headed on a once-in-a-lifetime dance tour of Europe, she’s left alone with her Guatemalan American father for an entire summer. Xavier seems happy to see her, but he expects her to live in (and help fix up) his old, broken-down brownstone. And all along, she must constantly navigate the language barrier of his rapid-fire Spanish—which she doesn’t speak—and her fluent English—which he barely knows.
As Almudena tries to adjust to this new reality, she also encounters the various residents of Xavier’s Latin American neighborhood. Each member of the community has their own joys and heartbreaks, as well as their own opinion of this half-Latina and how she should talk, dress, and behave. Some can’t understand why she doesn’t know where she comes from. Others think she’s not cut out to be anything but an outsider, “not brown enough” to fit in.
But time is running out for Almudena and Xavier to get to know each other, and the key to their connection may ultimately lie in bringing all these different elements together. Fixing a broken building is one thing, but turning a bunch of contentious individuals into a found family might take more than this one summer.
An exciting teen coming-of-age epic from author Samuel Teer and debut graphic novel artist Mar Julia, Brownstone is a vivid, sweeping, ultimately hopeful story about navigating your heritage, even when you feel like you don’t quite fit.
- On sale June 11, 2024
Plus, don’t miss out on these books!