The Top Ten Debut Latine Authors of 2024
This 2024 list includes authors nominated by their peers and their fans. In other words, some of them are la gente’s choices. Latino Stories is proud of the fact that we were the first, yes the first, to publish lists of top new Latine talent. Our first list started in 2006. Be sure to pick up these wonderful books.
1) Marcela Fuentes, author of the novel, Malas, which was a Good Morning America Book Club selection. Xochitl Gonzalez described it as, “A vivacious, page-turning novel of rebellion and rebirth.” The New York Times Book Review praised it as well: “Malas is an antidote for the hard-line essentialism that has made this world an intolerant, violent place. Fuentes humanizes seemingly insoluble conflicts, both generational and cultural, with imperfect characters who are just doing their best, even when they know they are screwing up.”
2) Anna Lapera, author of Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice, is one of the rising voices in middle school literature. No wonder that Kirkus Review called her novel, “A poignant, feminist coming-of-age story. Word is that she is already working on another novel, so get to this one soon.
3) Gume Laurel III published not one, not two, but three books in 2024: his poetry collection, Assimilated Natives: A Collection of Borderland Poems; a novel-in-verse, The Brujos of Borderland High; and another novel-in-verse, Samson & Domingo. There aren’t too many guarantees in life, but we can guarantee that Laurel III is someone we should all be reading now and in the future.
4) Annell López, author of I’ll Give You a Reason, a short story collection that has given readers many reasons to sing praises. Published by Feminist Press, the same one that published Ivelisse Rodriguez’ amazing short story collection, Love War Stories, I’ll Give You a Reason is the winner of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and is a must-read.
5) Eduardo Martínez-Leyva, author of Cowboy Park, the Winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. Amaud Jamaul Johnson, said it best, “In Cowboy Park, Eduardo Martínez-Leyva is like Orpheus at the lip of the Underworld, trying to rescue his own heart. His speaker is at the edge of himself, straddling the past and present of the body.”
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$11.98 (as of January 13, 2025 09:44 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)6) Elba Iris Pérez, author of The Things We Didn’t Know, inaugural winner of Simon & Schuster’s Books Like Us First Novel Contest. This USA Today bestseller is a coming-of-age story about a young girl who figures life out in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts. We have to hand it to Simon & Schuster. They definitely know how to pick a winner.
7) Javier Sandoval, author of the chapbook, Blue Moon Looming. We got multiple nominations for Sandoval, and with reason. His chapbook was summed up brilliantly by José Olivarez as “poetry for the unruly, and yes, the brilliant among us.”
8) Isabella Santana, author of the chapbook, Abuela Lore, a poetry collection that she has described as “a love letter” to her abuelas. As the legendary author, ire’ne lara silva, 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate, put it, “Santana speaks to us in a poetic voice that is both powerfully new and startlingly familiar.”
9) Nydia Armendia-Sánchez, author of Not Far From Here, a picture book that charms from page one. Kirkus Review, says it all: “In this sweet family history, the children discover that the roots of their future are deeply intertwined with the stories of those who came before them. A touching reminder that the stories of our ancestors light the way for generations to come.”
10) Karla T. Vasquez, author of The SalviSoul Cookbook. I know I’m biased, but honestly, who wouldn’t be when they look at the pictures of the Salvadoran dishes? The recipes are clear, enticing, and great for the soul. You don’t have to be Salvi to enjoy this book. You just have to be human to appreciate and love it.
