Books From Around the World (YA): South America

It’s often interesting to get a different perspective on the world. Here are some books set in some far-flung places – and some places close to home – grouped by continent/large body of water with islands in it. The books on this list are (mostly) written by authors from the countries they are about, and in many cases have been translated into English from their mother tongues (the book we’ve chosen for Madagascar, Return to the enchanted island by Johary Ravaloson, is only the second book to have ever been translated from Malagasy into English!).

Not all of the books are in the Young Adult collection, but we’ve tried to make sure that they all at least feature kids or teens in prominent places in the story. Our eventual goal is to have at least one book for every country in the world! Help us out by sending in recommendations if you’ve found one we’ve missed!

This list contains books written by authors from South America. Check out our lists for authors from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, and Oceania for even more recommendations!

Updated June 19, 2024
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Love in English
Andreu, Maria E
Paper Book
A fresh, joyful YA novel that is layered with themes of immigration, cultural identity, and finding your voice in any language.  Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except that since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the...
Argentina | Spanish-Argentinian-American author
Beatnik Buenos Aires
Arandojo, Diego
Paper Book
Argentine creators Diego Arandojo (writer) and Facundo Percio (illustrator) come together to weave the rich tapestry of this mecca of artistic expression. Arandojo's staccato dialogue lends a poetic quality to these lively, often mysterious characters, while Percio's raw and expressive charcoal...

Argentina | Argentinian author and illustrator

Furia
Me?ndez, Yamile Saied
Ebook
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK Recipient of the 2021 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Medal One of BuzzFeed's Must-Read YA Books of 2020 A Best Book of the Year: Cosmopolitan * Kirkus Reviews * SheReads *...

Argentina | Argentinian-American author

Affections
Hasbu?n, Rodrigo
Paper Book
A haunting novel about an unusual family's breakdown--set in South America during the time of Che Guevara and inspired by the life of Third Reich cinematographer Hans Ertl--from the literary star Jonathan Safran Foer calls, "a great writer." Inspired by real events, Affections is...

Bolivia | Bolivian author

Salt and sugar
Carvalho, Rebecca
Ebook
The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families' feud in this delicious debut rom-com perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Gloria Chao.   Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.   Lari...

Brazil | Brazilian-American author

The alchemist
Coelho, Paulo.
Paper Book
"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams." Every few...

Brazil | Brazilian author

The shape of bones
Galera, Daniel
Paper Book
"A book of visceral and tender beauty whose echoes persist long after the final page."  --David Mitchell, author of The Bone Clocks A coming of age tale of brutal beauty and disarming tenderness from one of Brazil's most exciting young novelists, an author writing...

Brazil | Brazilian author

Here the whole time
Martins, Vitor
Paper Book
"I read this in one sitting, laughing out loud and cheering for Felipe to follow his heart. I love this book!" --Rainbow Rowell, New York Times bestselling author of Carry On and Wayward Son Felipe can't wait for winter break: Finally, he'll get some time away...

Brazil | Brazilian author

Two brothers
Moon, Fa?bio
Paper Book
Twin brothers Omar and Yaqub may share the same features, but they could not be more different. After a brutally violent exchange between the young boys, Yaqub, 'the good son,' is sent from his home in Brazil to live with relatives in Lebanon, only to return five years later as a virtual stranger to...

Brazil | Brazilian author-illustrator

Listen, beautiful Ma?rcia
Quintanilha, Marcello
Paper Book
Marcia is a nurse in a hospital near Rio and lives in a favela with her boyfriend, Aluisio, and her daughter, Jaqueline, whom she had very young with another man. Jaqueline, a troubled young adult, makes life difficult for her mother and Aluisio rebelliously hangs out with members of a neighborhood...

Brazil | Brazilian author-illustrator

Where we go from here
Rocha, Lucas
Paper Book
An absorbing debut novel about three gay friends in Brazil whose lives become intertwined in the face of HIV, perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Bill Konigsberg.Ian has just been diagnosed with HIV.Victor, to his great relief, has tested negative.Henrique has been living with HIV for the past...

Brazil | Brazilian author

I lived on Butterfly Hill
Agosín, Marjorie.
Paper Book
An eleven-year-old's world is upended by political turmoil in this "lyrically ambitious tale of exile and reunification" (Kirkus Reviews) from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile. Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and...

Chile | Chilean-American author

City of the beasts
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold is about to join his fearless grandmother on the trip of a lifetime. An International Geographic expedition is headed to the dangerous, remote wilds of South America, on a mission to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast. But there are many...

Chile | Chilean author

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Not many months have passed since teenager Alexander Cold followed his bold grand-mother into the heart of the Amazon to uncover its legendary Beast. This time, reporter Kate Cold escorts her grandson and his closest friend, Nadia, along with the photographers from International Geographic, on a...

Chile | Chilean author

Forest of the Pygmies
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Alexander Cold knows all too well his grandmother Kate is never far from an adventure. When International Geographic commissions her to write an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa, they head -- with Nadia Santos and the magazine's photography crew -- to the blazing, red plains...

Chile | Chilean author

What remains : personal and political histories of Colombia
Aguirre, Camilo
Paper Book
What Remains is an innovative graphic novel that weaves documentary and memoir forms to capture the sociopolitical fabric of Colombia, spanning 200 years. Camilo Aguirre dips in and out of pivotal historical periods, all while skillfully interweaving family histories and anecdotes of students...

Colombia | Colombian author

Amazona
Canizales
Paper Book
This socially conscious thriller from graphic novelist Canizales examines the injustices of his home country in a stark, distinctive style. Andrea, a young Indigenous Colombian woman, has returned to the land she calls home. Only nineteen years old, she comes to mourn her lost child,...

Colombia | Colombian author-illustrator

Fruit of the drunken tree : a novel
Rojas Contreras, Ingrid
Paper Book
"One of the most dazzling and devastating novels I've read in a long time...Readers of Fruit of the Drunken Tree will surely be transformed." --San Francisco Chronicle "Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende...Listen...

Colombia | Colombian author

Oblivion : a memoir
Abad Faciolince, He ctor Joaqui n.
Paper Book
Oblivionis a heartbreaking, exquisitely written memorial to the author's father, Héctor Abad Gómez, whose criticism of the Colombian regime led to his murder by paramilitaries in 1987. Twenty years in the writing, it paints an unforgettable picture of a man who followed his conscience and...

Colombia | Colombian author

The Revolutionaries Try Again
Cardenas, Mauro Javier
Paper Book
Extravagant, absurd, and self-aware, The Revolutionaries Try Again plays out against the lost decade of Ecuador's austerity and the stymied idealism of three childhood friends--an expat, a bureaucrat, and a playwright--who are as sure about the evils of dictatorship as they are...

Ecuador | Ecuadorian author

The inheritance of Orqui?dea Divina : a novel
Co?rdova, Zoraida
Paper Book

Ecuador | Ecuadorian-American author

Children of paradise : a novel
D'Aguiar, Fred
Paper Book
Acclaimed novelist, playwright, and poet Fred D'Aguiar has been short-listed for the T.S. Eliot Prize in poetry for Bill of Rights, his narrative poem about the Jonestown massacre, and won the Whitbread First Novel Award for The Longest Memory. In this beautifully imagined work of literary...

Guyana | British-Guyanese author

In the key of Nira Ghani
Deen, Natasha
Paper Book
A Guyanese girl must find the balance between her parents' "old world" expectations and traditions while pursuing her dream of being a great trumpeter in this contemporary, coming-of-age story. Nira Ghani has always dreamed of becoming a musician. Her Guyanese...

Guyana | Guyanese author

Yo el Supremo
Roa Bastos, Augusto
Paper Book
"Una historia basada en la figura de Francia, dictador de Paraguay."

Paraguay | Paraguayan author

War By Candlelight Stories
Alarcon, Daniel.
Ebook
"The engaging stories . . . draw on Peru's violent history, the plight of Lima's poor and the hopes of immigrants in New York . . . finely crafted fiction." --Chicago TribuneWinner of the Whiting Writers' AwardIn this exquisite collection, Daniel Alarcón takes the reader...

Peru | Peruvian author

Death in the Andes
Vargas Llosa, Mario
Paper Book
Set in an isolated, rundown community in the Peruvian Andes, Vargas Llosa's novel tells the story of a series of mysterious disappearances involving the Shining Path guerrillas and a local couple performing cannibalistic sacrifices with strange similiarities to the Dionysian rituals of ancient...

Peru | Peruvian author

Lulu and Milagro's search for clarity
Velez, Angela (Author of young adult fiction)
Paper Book
Booksmart meets Never Have I Ever in this Latinx road trip adventure--a big-hearted, voice-driven YA about two sisters who couldn't be more different, but become begrudging partners on their school's cross-country college trip--from debut author Angela Velez. Perfect for fans of...

Peru/USA | Peruvian-American author

The invisible mountain
De Robertis, Carolina.
Paper Book

Uruguay | Uruguayan-American author

It would be night in Caracas : a novel
Sainz Borgo, Karina
Paper Book
As seen in the New York Times Book Review  Told with gripping intensity, It Would be Night in Caracas chronicles one woman's desperate battle to survive amid the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela and the lengths she must go to secure her future....

Venezuela | Venezuelan author


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