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
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

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

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

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
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
Alexander Cold, his grandmother Kate, and his closest friend Nadia return in the follow-up to City of the Beasts on a new quest to find the fabled Golden Dragon of the Himalayas, another fantastical voyage of suspense, magic, and awe-inspiring adventure from internationally...

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

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

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

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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