University Library News
Georgia State University

Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic American Heritage Month Poster
Creative Commons/by familymwr

We are in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated annually in the U.S. from September 15 – October 15.  There are many opportunities to learn about our nation’s vast Hispanic heritage online, at the national level, and in local communities.

Here at Georgia State University Library, there are a number of great books we can recommend to help you learn, celebrate, honor, and appreciate more the contributions of Americans with origins in Spain, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

Honduran-American heritage:
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

National best-seller.  Selected by over 30 universities as the freshman or all-campus book of the year.  Published in eight languages.  Named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, People, The Miami Herald, and the San Antonio Express-News.

Dominican-American heritage:
Drown by Junot Díaz

American Library Association Notable Book, PEN/Hemingway Best First Novel, National Magazine Award for Fiction (Finalist), Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award.

Hispanic heritage in Atlanta, GA:
Atlanta’s Quinceañeras by Daniela Ruz Hernandez

This was Hernandez’s thesis for her MA, which was awarded by GSU in July of 2008.  You can download and read the full thesis online via GSU’s digital archive.  From the abstract: “Young women in Mexico and parts of Central America celebrate their fifteenth birthdays by following a complex rite of initiation, called Quinceañeras…”

Mexican-American heritage:
Woman Hollering Creek, and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros

This slim volume of excellent short stories by Cisneros is often over-shadowed by her mega-hit, The House on Mango Street.  Winner of the PEN Center West Award for best fiction, the Lannan Foundation Literary Award, and the Ainsfield -Wolf Book Award.

Do you have a good book on Hispanic heritage to recommend?  Please share it with us in the comments.

¡Celebramos!