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
All my goodbyes
Dimo?pulos, Mariana
Paper Book
This highly acclaimed contemporary Argentinian novel is the first in Giramondo's Literature of the South series, featuring innovative fiction and non-fiction by writers of the southern hemisphere. It is translated from the Spanish by Australian translator Alice Whitmore. ...

Argentina | Argentinian author

Furia
Me?ndez, Yamile Saied
Paper Book
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...

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
Paper Book
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
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world, and this tenth anniversary edition, with a new introduction from the author, will only increase that following. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy...

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

Listen, beautiful Ma?rcia
Quintanilha, Marcello
Paper Book
Márcia 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 and rebelliously hangs out with members of a...

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
Agosi?n, Marjorie.
Paper Book
An eleven-year-old's world is upended by political turmoil in this searing novel from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile. Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile--until...

Chile | Chilean-American author

City of the beasts
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Alexander Cold, un joven de quince años, tiene la oportunidad de hacer el viaje de su vida. Dejando atrás a su familia y a su madre enferma, Alexander Cold se embarca con su temeraria abuela, reportera de International Geographic, en una peligrosa expedición al Amazonas. Su misión y la de sus...

Chile | Chilean author

Kingdom of the golden dragon
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
El Reino del Dragón de Oro No han transcurrido muchos meses desde que el joven Alexander Cold se internara con su abuela en el corazón del Amazonas en busca de su legendaria Bestia. En esta ocasión, la reportera Kate Cold acompaña a su nieto y a la mejor amiga de él, Nadia, junto con los...

Chile | Chilean author

Forest of the pygmies
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
El Bosque de los Pigmeos Alexander Cold sabe muy bien que su abuela Kate siempre anda en busca de una nueva aventura. Cuando la International Geographic le pide que escriba un artículo sobre los primeros safaris africanos en elefantes, Kate, Alexander y Nadia -- junto con el equipo de...

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

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

The inheritance of Orqui?dea Divina : a novel
Co?rdova, Zoraida
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Isabel Allende, and Sarah Addison Allen, a family searches for the truth hidden in their past in this "expertly woven tale of family power, threaded with as much mystery as magic" (V.E. Schwab, #1 New York Times...

Ecuador | Ecuadorian-American 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

War by candlelight : stories
Alarco?n, 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

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
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

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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