Hello, everyone, my name is Olivia, and in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I wanted to recommend
you a couple of Cuban-American books to read to celebrate this month and to support Cuban authors
all year round, actually. So these are some of my favorite Cuban-American books I have
read throughout the years. They have given me so much representation and validation
and just taught me so much more about Cuban history that I previously did not know about,
and I am forever grateful to all these authors. And, this is not a culmination of all Cuban books,
obviously. I'm going to be missing a lot of Cuban books, so these are just Cuban books that I own on
my shelves that I want to recommend to you all for Hispanic Heritage Month and for all year round.
So let's get right into it because I have Young Adult novels, Middle-Grade novels,
and Adult Fiction novels all written by Cuban authors. So the first book I want to recommend
is a YA novel and it says, “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,’ and it is Don't
Date Rosa Santos. Rosa Santos lives in a quirky little town in Florida full of a bunch of funny
and cute and unique neighbors, and she believes that she is cursed by her family line. So she
lives with her abuela and her mother and they have very different personalities, so she always feels
like she's being pulled between the both of them, and as she's figuring out her college decisions
because she just recently graduated. She is also dealing with falling in love with a boy in town
who is very mysterious, has tattoos, and is everything she is told to stay away from.
This is probably one of my most lighthearted reads that I have to recommend to you all for
today because this primarily deals with Rosa, her relationship with her family, and what it
means to be Cuban-American, and I really love this novel. It's cute. It's light-hearted. It's
airy. It's perfect for the summer, so if you're looking for something bright, but also has some
serious moments, then this is the book for you. A middle-grade novel full of magic and adventure
that I have to recommend to you all is Sal and Gabi Break the Universe. This is a wonderful
book following a Cuban-American protagonist, which is published by Rick Riordan Presents. And
Rick Riordan Presents focuses on telling diverse stories from different cultures around the world.
I want to read you a blurb that I just found from Booklist because I think it really
sums up the novel in a beautiful way. So it says, “A meaningful exploration of grief, Hernandez
fills his fast pace novel with an intriguing blend of sci-fi, folklore, and Cuban culture,
and populates it with delightfully well-rounded, clever, and exceptionally kind characters all
in a lively, distinctive voice with a compelling cliffhanger ending, this engrossing adventure is
sure to leave readers excitedly anticipating the next installment.” So this is actually a
beginning of a trilogy, and this follows Sal as he is dealing with a bunch of different magical
elements. And while Sal loves being a magician, he finds out that his magic is actually real and
he's able to conjure things, like his dead mother, and he has to deal with the consequences of it. So
this is a lighthearted, very fun type of read that I listened to on audiobook. I loved it so much. I
thought it was so witty and sarcastic. Sal and Gabi's banter back and forth between each other
was something that I loved so much. That is very present and a lot of Rick Riordan Presents books.
They all have the same feel to it where they're fun, they're adventurous, they have so much great
banter, and that's what I love about Rick Riordan Presents. If you're looking for something for your
kids to read, I would highly recommend this one. A hard-hitting middle-grade that I have
to recommend to you all is The Red Umbrella and this follows a piece of Cuban history that not a
lot of people know about, which is Operación Pedro Pan, and that is Operation Peter Pan,
which is when a bunch of Cuban parents sent their children to America by themselves to live a better
life after the Cuban Revolution. So we follow our main character, Lucia, as she moves to America
with her brother and is plopped into a church, and a family from Nebraska decides to take them in and
take care of them while their parents are dealing with the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution.
So we follow Lucia and her brother as they are living in a whole new country, in a place where
they don't know the language, and this happened to so many different Cuban children throughout that
time in history. And I actually know someone who took part in Operación Pedro Pan and he
described what it was like to move to America, without his parents, without knowing the language,
and trying to assimilate to this new country after such a drastic shift in his home country.
And this really explores what it's like to be a Cuban and being displaced into America,
and it's very hard-hitting. I read this in one sitting because it's very easy to get through
because it is a middle grade. If you want to learn about a piece of Cuban history that
not a lot of people know about, I would highly recommend this one because it's it's very
hard-hitting and it teaches you about a piece of history that isn't really spoken about in
textbooks. Now, on to one of my favorite Cuban authors, and you all know who is going to be:
Chanel Cleeton. So this is my favorite book of all time by Chanel Cleeton, of all time in general.
This is the first book that I read at 21 where I saw authentic Cuban representation following
both a Cuban-American character and a Cuban character living on the island. This historical
fiction is split into two different timelines. We follow Elisa in 1958 in Havana, and then we
follow Marisol in 2017 as she is going to Cuba for the first time to spread her grandmother's ashes
on her homeland, and her grandmother is Elisa. So this story really juxtaposes two very different
times in Cuba. So we follow Elisa right before the Cuban Revolution, where tension is brewing.
A bunch of different things are happening, and she is learning that, from her life of privilege, she
is witnessing her country change before her eyes and she's witnessing history as it is happening.
Then we follow Marisol, who is a Cuban-American, and she has lived in America all her life.
She has never been to Cuba, but she is going for the first time, and she is witnessing the
aftermath of the revolution. She is witnessing the injustices that Cuba faces currently,
and she is learning about her privilege as a Cuban-American, compared to Cubans on the island.
It is such a well-rounded story if you want to learn about what it's like to be Cuban-American.
It validated me in so many different ways. It reminded me of my relationship with my abuela,
and I just appreciate this story so much because it made me feel less alone in this world,
and it's the first book that I ever read where I saw a Cuban character and they weren't in
a stereotype, and we were exploring Cuban history in an authentic way, by a Cuban author, and it's
one of the best books that I've ever read. And I'm so grateful for it, and I can only hope that
other people find representation in novels the way that I found this book because the validation that
it gives you is unmatched. It's unlike anything you can ever experience. I feel like once you
find that book in your life, that's when you'll understand it and that's what happened when I read
this book. The sequel to Next Year in Havana is When We Left Cuba, and this follows Beatriz Perez
as she lives in America after fleeing Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. And what's cool
about Beatriz Perez is that she is recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro's inner circle
and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage. Beatriz is confident. She is not afraid to have
everyone look at her when she steps into a room. She's not afraid to break social norms,
and she also has this pent-up anger inside of her because she had to flee her country,
due to the Cuban Revolution. She has a lot of different emotions coursing through her,
and all she wants to do is go back to her country and back to her life that she once lived. So she
takes this job by the CIA and decides to help them try to get rid of Fidel Castro,
and this is inspired by true events where the CIA did try to take out Fidel Castro,
in history. This kind of takes a spin on it and focuses around Beatriz and how she
is breaking the norms in America. She is learning to assimilate to this new country, but she's also
like deep into the world of espionage. So it's a fun historical fiction because I have never read
a book about spies before, and I thought this was so good. I loved Beatriz so much. Her personality
reminded me of my own in the way that she's spunky, she's very honest, and that's what I
loved about her. I feel like Next Year in Havana provided me the Cuban representation I needed,
but Beatriz provided me with the personality representation that I needed. And a third novel by
Chanel Cleeton that I have to recommend to you all is The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba. This follows
three different women, one lives in America and she is a journalist who is up and coming
and trying to find her niche in the industry. Then we follow an actual Cuban historical figure named
Evangelina Cisneros. She is an 18-year-old who is jailed for aiding the revolution against the
Spanish colonization of Cuba at the time. And then we follow Marina who is trying to help Evangelina
break out of this prison that she has put in. This takes place during the 1800s when Spain took
over Cuba and colonized it, so this is a piece of history that I did not know anything about because
we never focused on Cuban history in my history classes in high school and in college. So I was
going into this book without knowing anything, and this taught me so much about this piece of
Cuban history that I did not know about. It taught me so much about the Spanish oppression in Cuba.
It taught me so much about Evangelina Cisneros, who I've never heard of before, who was deemed
The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by American journalists, and it just taught me so much about
the Cuban strength and the way that they were trying to fight back against Spanish oppression,
and it just really opened my eyes to a piece of history that I never knew about before.
And Chanel Cleeton really did her research, and I think she really did the story justice because
I learned so much from her, and I'm so grateful for her for this because, while this is not the
most hard-hitting Chanel Cleeton book that I've read, I learned so much more about Cuban history
through this book and I'm so grateful for it. Another book I have to recommend is The Book of
Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older. I love this book so much. This is a book that I always tell people,
I closed it and immediately burst it into tears because the amount of emotion that this book
evoked from me was astronomical. So we follow two different characters and they are both related to
each other. One is Marisol, who disappeared without a trace after the Cuban Revolution,
and nobody knew what happened to her and her spirit is now trying to contact Ramon
who lives in New Jersey in America. And he is just living his life as a Cuban-American when
he starts to get these messages from his aunt who he had never met, named Marisol. So Ramon,
when he receives these messages, starts to wonder what really happened her to her and he starts to
dig into her life and even travels back to Cuba to try and figure out what happened to Marisol and
why she disappeared after the Cuban Revolution and where she possibly went. This novel deals a lot
with what it's like to be Cuban, on the island and also Cuban-American, and the differences between
those two lives. And it says it is a “haunting meditation of family, forgiveness, and the violent
struggle to be free.” And this book just hit me so hard because it just really captures what it's
like to be Cuban in America where you just want to learn more about pieces of history that are slowly
slipping out of your grasp, once your elders start passing away and you are losing pieces
of Cuban history because you have never been to the island before. So Ramon travels to Cuba to
learn more about it, and he gets to witness Cuba for the first time, similar to the way
that happened Next Year in Havana. And that first exploration of this country that you've heard so
many stories about but you've never seen before is just awe-inspiring. It's unlike anything I've ever
read before, and I've never actually experienced it before because I've never been to Cuba before,
but it's something that just takes my breath away. And this book just packed so many emotions,
and I think it's even more emotional if you are Cuban and you read this novel because, like with
all these other stories that I recommended to you, this has just offered me so much validation and
just offered me comfort. It's just so comforting to read about your own culture and the different
stories that these Cuban authors can write about, and I just love this story so much. It's very
underrated. I don't see a lot of people talking about it, so if you're looking for an underrated,
adult fiction to read, I would highly recommend this one. And lastly, I want to recommend to you
an anthology that I have not read yet, but I am going to read for Hispanic Heritage Month, and
it is Wild Tongues Can't be Tamed. This follows 15 Latine authors who each wrote a short story about
their experience being Latine in America. So one story, in particular, is called “Cuban Imposter
Syndrome” and what it feels like to be Cuban in America and the invalidation that you sometimes
feel when you tell others that you're Cuban and you don't feel Cuban enough because you don't live
on the island or you may have never visited the island before. And I am so excited to read this
anthology, to hear a bunch of people's different perspectives from all walks of life. So if you're
looking for a Latine anthology to support during Hispanic Heritage Month, please support this one
because this has a lot of Afro-Latine authors who are sharing their stories, and I cannot wait to
read it and I'm so glad I have a copy for myself because I know this is going to be hard-hitting,
relatable, and just very validating. And I'm so glad that I have this in my hands and people
are able to read this now because I'm sure this is going to validate so many different readers across
so many different countries in Latin America. So those are some Cuban-American books that I have to
recommend to you all. If you have any Cuban book recommendations that you think I would absolutely
love, please put them down below, or even if you have Latine books to recommend, please put them
down below because I want all the recommendations for both myself and for my viewers to celebrate
Hispanic Heritage Month all year round. Again, this is not a culmination of all Cuban books
in the world. There are so many books that I have not read yet that I still have to read to
eventually recommend you all. These are just some books that publishers have provided me to review.
Obviously, there are other Cuban books that I'm missing from this list, so do be kind in the
comments. I am also going to be leaving a list of some of my favorite Latine Booktubers down below
for you to follow, so be sure to support them as well throughout this month and all year round. And
thank you so much for watching this video. Be sure to be kind in the comments. If you want to support
me and follow me somewhere else, be sure to follow my TikTok, my Instagram, all my socials will be
down below. So thank you so much for watching, and I will see you in a video very soon. Bye~