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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Furia
Mâendez, 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

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
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * OVER 80 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE "Translated into 80 languages, the allegory teaches us about dreams, destiny, and the reason we are all here."--Oprah Daily, "Best Self-Help Books of a Generation" "It's a brilliant, magical, life...

Brazil | Brazilian author

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...

Brazil | Brazilian author

I lived on Butterfly Hill
AgosďĹ˝in, 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.
Ebook
When Alexander Cold's mother falls ill, the fifteen-year-old is sent to stay with his eccentric grandmother in New York. A tough and prickly magazine reporter, Kate Cold takes Alex along with her on an expedition to the Amazon to verify the existence of the fierce, gigantic, legendary creature...

Chile | Chilean author

Fruit of the drunken tree : a novel
Rojas Contreras, Ingrid
Ebook
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Seven-year-old Chula lives a carefree life in her gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside her walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar reigns, capturing the attention of the nation. ...

Colombia | Colombian author

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina
Cordova, 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

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

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


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