Guest Post by Cara Lopez Lee

I grew up with my paternal grandma, who was a child of both Mexican and Chinese immigrants. My primarily Mexican family and I lived all over Los Angeles in a variety of minority, mixed-race, and white neighborhoods. As a person of Mexican, Chinese, and Caucasian descent, I grew used to people asking me, “What are you?”—until I too came to ask, “Yeah, what am I?”

My historical novel, Candlelight Bridge (FlowerSong Press, 2024) is part of my answer. It’s inspired by family stories my grandma used to tell me, tales of secret immigrants, mixed races, and trauma passed down like a torch. I hope Candlelight Bridge leads readers to ponder the bigger American question: Who are we?

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I’m proud of my Mexican heritage, and always striving to deepen my connection with my Latine roots. I read many Latine authors, travel frequently to Latin American countries, and research the history and culture of Latine people.

My favorite books feature characters who feel like outsiders or have a foot in two worlds. In my youth, most of those characters were white. I was in my thirties before I discovered Latina authors like Isabel Allende and Sandra Cisneros. These days, I’m thrilled to see many Latina voices rising in literature.

Here are a few of my favorite books by Latina authors:

Woman of Light, historical novel, Kali Fajardo Anstine (Chicana)

I felt sublime sorrow and kindred joy in reading this exquisite work of art. Fajardo-Anstine focuses her lens on an intimate world of family, friendship, and community, as a prism for a profound historical saga. Protagonist Luz Lopez shines light on the way colonizing cultures push people off their land, off the paths their talents deserve, and into the shadows. Yet Luz, her ancestors, family, and friends not only persevere but also perform feats of daring as entertainers, activists, and visionaries. Arm-in-arm they rise. Sometimes they even do magic.

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A Decent Woman, historical novel, Eleanor Parker Sapia (Puerto Rican-born)

This novel explores the kind of family history women used to only whisper among themselves. An Afro-Cuban midwife born into slavery and an upper-class Cuban wife cross class lines and form an inspiring bond to overcome the dangers all women face in a world that blames them for any damage men inflict on them. In a milieu of patriarchal repression, Ana and Serafina find ways to assert their desires, take control of their own destinies, and forge a forbidden friendship.

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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, young adult novel, Erika L. Sánchez (Mexican American)

Whether you’re curious about the experiences of people from marginalized communities, or are one of them, I recommend this coming-of-age tale. Though it’s fiction, it’s filled with the pride and shame, joy and pathos, hopes and fears of a lived experience. For me, it was a joy to connect with the heartfelt words of an author who recognizes how the day-to-day differences between our families of origin and the rest of the world can feel isolating. It’s comforting to know I’m not the only one whose clash with Mom (I called my grandma “Mom.”) was compounded by the fact that she came from a culture that was simultaneously mine and not mine.

Julia’s mental health struggles, compounded by the death of her sister, compounded by multi-generational trauma, all add wonderful complexity to the story. Julia’s sharp humor, strong sense of justice, and passion for writing made it easy to root for her as she sought to uncover the truth about her “perfect” Mexican sister only to discover the dark secrets and bright possibilities of herself.

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Witches, a novel, Brenda Lozano (Mexican)

I loved watching Mexican women reach across the divide between light-skinned mestizas and dark indigenes, city and country, career-woman and curandera, to embrace many possibilities for expressing womanhood and power. I love the questions this book raised for me: Why does society treat healing as a feminine pursuit yet reserve its greatest secrets and responsibilities for men? Who decided female energy can only reside in one kind of body? Why do women often pay with their bodies, or their lives, for expressing their gifts in ways that help others—simply because they do so outside male control? Though there’s much loss and hardship in Witches, it transcends all that by breathing the joy and magic of spiritually gifted people.

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Maestra, poetry, Angelina Sáenz (Chicana)

Maestra popped the lid off my brain and opened me up to what a story can be. This poetry collection about Angelina Sáenz’ time as a teacher in underserved Los Angeles schools captures moments, experiences, and ideas that feel like a memoir. I picture this book inspiring a revolution to upend the broken educational systems that leave many children unable to get a fair shake in America. Yet this inspiring cry for change comes packaged inside the beautiful, sad, painful, maddening, funny, challenging, sweet moments in a teacher’s day-to-day life.

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The Book of Unknown Americans, a novel, Cristina Henríquez (Panamanian American)

This novel’s braided structure demonstrates the way many lives intertwine to create community. Sliding into this story felt easy, yet it’s a profound look at people we pass every day, assuming we know anything of their lives just by looking at them. It’s a story of all who find themselves on the edge of things trying to work their way back to a sense of home. It’s a story of how the love of others ultimately leads us to our true homes. It speaks to the idea that each American dream is unique, and that many pay a high price to make theirs come true, often not for themselves, but for their children.

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Daughter of Fortune, historical novel, Isabel Allende (Chilean-born American)

If Isabel Allende’s writing ever feels old-fashioned, it’s in that perfect way that carries me into a long-ago time. This story ultimately chronicles a romance between a Chilean woman and a Chinese man. I love coming across multiracial romances in literature because I grew up immersed in multiple cultures and owe my existence to mixed-race relationships. Though the story starts in Chile, it feels very American, a tale of immigrants from two ethnicities coming together to create a third.

Allende’s lyrical descriptions made me fall so in love with the chaotic hilly streets of Valparaiso, Chile that I couldn’t rest until I traveled there myself. Modern Valparaiso is filled with high-caliber street art. The accompanying gentrification is troubling, yet the city remains vibrant and unique. It was easy to picture Allende walking alongside me, on a path twisting and winding, down and around, to the sea.

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Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir, Jean Guerrero (Puerto Rican and Mexican American author)

Crux was a shot through my heart in multiple ways: I relate to being a Latina caught between cultures, the daughter of a mentally ill parent, and a former journalist, traveler, and memoirist, who almost drowned along the way—though nothing near Guerrero’s haunting near-death experience. With mystical prose, yet crystal focus, this memoir explores many borders and boundaries, via the author’s dance with life and death, with her father’s madness and brilliance, with her Mexicanness versus her Puerto Ricanness versus her Americanness. In the U.S., so many of us struggle to be all things to all people: true to our roots yet assimilated, putting family first yet pushing ourselves to success. Crux’s story suggests we may navigate these many threads with our souls intact yet our minds frayed, as we seek our place in the tapestry of America.

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