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
W
Wellington City Libraries Youth team at Wellington City Libraries
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The alchemist
Coelho, Paulo
Paper Book
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and soul-stirring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of...

Brazil | Brazilian 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

Space invaders : a novel
Ferna?ndez, Nona
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature A dreamlike evocation of a generation that grew up in the shadow of a dictatorship in 1980s Chile Space Invaders is the story of a group of childhood friends who, in adulthood, are preoccupied...

Chile | Chilean 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

I, the Supreme
Roa Bastos, Augusto
Paper Book

Paraguay | Paraguayan author

War by candlelight
Alarcón, Daniel
Paper Book
"[Alarcón's] tales, set largely in the hardscrabble world of Lima, build with all the power of a Flannery O'Connor story: a gentle enough start, an innocent setting, and before long the reader is adrift in a drama that defies the imagination--with characters that live long after the book is...

Peru | Peruvian author

Death in the Andes
Vargas Llosa, Mario
Paper Book
"The novel tells the story of army corporal Lituma and his deputy Tomas, who have been assigned to treacherous guard duty in an isolated, run-down mining community in the mountains of Peru. The men are homesick and far from enthusiastic about serving as foot soldiers in the Peruvian Army's ongoing...

Peru | Peruvian author

The invisible mountain
De Robertis, Carolina.
Paper Book
A gripping and lyrical story--at once expansive and lush with detail--this debut novel is a deeply intimate exploration of the search for love and authenticity, power and redemption, in the lives of three women, and a penetrating portrait of a small, tenacious nation, Uruguay, shaken in the gales of...

Uruguay | Uruguayan-American author

La hija de la espaǫla
Sainz Borgo, Karina
Paper Book
El libro que ha inspirado una adaptación, próximamente en Netflix SE PUEDE PERDER TODO. SE PUEDE EMPEZAR DE NUEVO. SOLO SI ERES OTRA. Ganadora del Premio Grand Prix Madame Figaro a Novela Extranjera. La hija de la española, la fascinante novela...

Venezuela | Venezuelan author


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