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Books From Around the World (YA): North and Central AmericaUnpublished

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 North and Central America, including the Caribbean. Check out our lists for authors from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America for even more recommendations!

Updated June 19, 2024

Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries

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The marrow thieves

Dimaline, Cherie

Paper Book

Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award (Young People's Literature - Text) Winner of the 2017 Kirkus PrizeWinner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Winner of the 2018 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Winner of the 2018 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit...

Canada | Canadian author (Metis)

Firekeeper's daughter

Boulley, Angeline

Paper Book

A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...

United States of America | American author (Ojibwe)

Bad Cree

Johns, Jessica.

Paper Book

In this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman's dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home. "A mystery and a horror story about...

Canada | Canadian author (Cree)

Fire song

Jones, Adam Garnet.

Paper Book

How can Shane reconcile his feelings for David with his desire for a better life? Shane is still reeling from the suicide of his kid sister, Destiny. How could he have missed the fact that she was so sad? He tries to share his grief with his girlfriend, Tara, but...

Canada | Canadian author (Cree, Metis)

How the one-armed sister sweeps her house : a novel

Jones, Cherie

Paper Book

In the tradition of Zadie Smith and Marlon James, a brilliant Caribbean writer delivers a powerful story about four people each desperate to escape their legacy of violence in a so-called "paradise." In Baxter's Beach, Barbados, Lala's grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed...

Barbados | Barbadian author

Enchanted air : two cultures, two wings : a memoir

Engle, Margarita

Paper Book

In this poetic memoir, which won the Pura Belpré Author Award, was a YALSA Nonfiction Finalist, and was named a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, acclaimed author Margarita Engle tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War. Margarita is a girl from two...

Cuba | Cuban-American author

Don't date Rosa Santos

Moreno, Nina (Young adult fiction writer)

Paper Book

For fans of Gilmore Girls and To All the Boys I've Loved Before, this effervescent love story from debut author Nina Moreno will sweep you away. Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea--at least, that's what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you...

Cuba | Cuban-American author

How the Garcia girls lost their accents

Alvarez, Julia.

Paper Book

One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years A collectible hardcover thirtieth-anniversary edition of Julia Alvarez's modern Latinx classic that gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures, featuring a new foreword by New York Times...

Dominican Republic | Dominican-American author

The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian

Alexie, Sherman

Paper Book

A New York Times bestseller--over one million copies sold! A National Book Award winner A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the...

United States of America | American author (Spokane)

Don't ask me where I'm from

De Leon, Jennifer

Paper Book

"A funny, perceptive, and much-needed book telling a much-needed story." --Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestseller Little Fires Everywhere "Written with humor and grace, with intimacy and empathy, Don't Ask Me Where I'm From is the perfect coming of age...

Guatemala | Guatemalan-American author

Hearts unbroken

Smith, Cynthia Leitich

Paper Book

Winner of an American Indian Youth Literature Award New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith turns to realistic fiction with the thoughtful story of a Native teen navigating the complicated, confusing waters of high school -- and first love. ...

United States of America | American author (Muscogee Creek)

The house on Mango Street

Cisneros, Sandra.

Paper Book

The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes-sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous-Sandra Cisneros' masterpiece is a classic story...

Mexico | Mexican-American author

Sia Martinez and the moonlit beginning of everything

Vasquez Gilliland, Raquel

Paper Book

"In a world where we are so often dividing ourselves into us and them, this book feels like a kind of magic, celebrating all beliefs, ethnicities, and unknowns." --The New York Times Book Review Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe meets Roswell...

Mexico | Mexican-American author

Disappeared

Stork, Francisco X

Paper Book

* "A tense thriller elevated by Stork's nuanced writing and empathy for every character, including the villains -- superb." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewFour Months AgoSara Zapata's best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juárez.Four Hours...

Mexico | Mexican author

Dominicana

Cruz, Angie

Paper Book

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK Shortlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction "Through a novel with so much depth, beauty, and grace, we, like Ana, are forever changed." --Jacqueline Woodson, Vanity Fair "Gorgeous writing,...

Dominican Republic | Dominican-American author

River sing me home

Shearer, Eleanor

Paper Book

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * This beautiful, page-turning and redemptive story of a mother's gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children and piece her family back together is a "celebration of motherhood and female resilience" (The Observer). ...

Barbados | Caribbean-British author; ancestor of Windrush generation immigrants

If I ever get out of here

Gansworth, Eric

Paper Book

"A heart-healing, mocs-on-the-ground story of music, family and friendship." -- Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Tantalize and Rain is Not My Indian Name.Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the...

United States of America | American author (Onondaga)

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe

Sa?enz, Benjamin Alire.

Paper Book

Now a major motion picture starring Max Pelayo, Reese Gonzales, and Eva Longoria! A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Aristotle is an...

United States of America | Mexican-American author

Clap when you land

Acevedo, Elizabeth

Paper Book

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Camino Rios lives for the...

Dominican Republic | Dominican-American author

Love is a revolution

Watson, Rene?e

Paper Book

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Renée Watson comes a love story about love-not only in a romantic relationship but also in how a girl finds herself and falls in love with who she really is. When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an...

United States of America | Jamaican-American author

The grief keeper

Villasante, Alexandra

Paper Book

This stunning YA debut is a timely and heartfelt speculative narrative about healing, faith, and freedom. Seventeen-year-old Marisol has always dreamed of being American, learning what Americans and the US are like from television and Mrs. Rosen, an elderly expat who had employed...

El Salvador | Uruguayan-American author

Elatsoe

Little Badger, Darcie

Paper Book

Locus Award Winner--Best First Novel A National Indie Bestseller Nebula Award Finalist Lodestar Award Finalist Ignyte Award Finalist TIME's Best 100 Fantasy Books of All Time NPR Best of the Year Booklist's...

United States of America | American author (Lipan Apache)

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Books From Around the World (YA): North and Central AmericaUnpublishedShare

Books From Around the World (YA): North and Central AmericaUnpublished