Can’t-miss 2024 Pura Belpré winners & honorees for Hispanic Heritage Month & beyond
Named for Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library, the Pura Belpré Award (est. 1996) is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator “whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth” (ALA).
In celebration of these final days of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), we’re spotlighting the 2024 Pura Belpré winners and honorees that are available right now in the Sora platform – books with universal stories that resonate with students of all backgrounds while honoring the rich cultural heritage of their creators.
(Plus, an unnecessary reminder: These books are incredible reading options no matter what month it is!)
Keep reading for more (you can also check out the complete list of 2024 Pura Belpré winners & honorees and read reviews for each title in OverDrive Marketplace).
2024 Pura Belpré winners & honorees: Juvenile
Mexikid
by Pedro Martín
Winner of the Pura Belpré Author Award and Illustrator Award. Winner of a Newbery Honor Award.
“Equal parts hilarious and tear-jerking moments abound, rendered in a cartoon style with vibrant color palettes that shift depending on the sequence’s tone. This artistically inventive read, which teems with lively characters and emotion, is a joy to behold.” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
Pedro Martín has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito—his legendary crime-fighting, grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican Revolution! But that doesn’t mean Pedro is excited at the news that Abuelito is coming to live with their family. After all, Pedro has 8 brothers and sisters and the house is crowded enough! Still, Pedro piles into the Winnebago with his family for a road trip to Mexico to bring Abuelito home, and what follows is the trip of a lifetime, one filled with laughs and heartache. Along the way, Pedro finally connects with his abuelito and learns what it means to grow up and find his grito.
Something Like Home
by Andrea Beatriz Arango, Almarie Guerra
Ebook | Audiobook | Spanish ebook (Casi, casi un hogar)
“Arango’s writing is intimate and heartbreaking, tackling such hefty issues as cultural identity, addiction, the pain of displacement and the anxiety it causes, and the adulation and rationalization that a child in pain can offer to adults they love. Arango accomplishes this with the believable voice of a girl in crisis and by tapping into compassion for all the characters amidst moving scenes of joy and connection.” — The Horn Book, Inc. (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
The Pura Belpré Honor winning novel in verse, in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.
Laura Rodríguez Colón has a plan: no matter what the grown-ups say, she will live with her parents again. Can you blame her? It’s tough to make friends as the new kid at school. And while staying at her aunt’s house is okay, it just isn’t the same as being in her own space.
So when Laura finds a puppy, it seems like fate. If she can train the puppy to become a therapy dog, then maybe she’ll be allowed to visit her parents. Maybe the dog will help them get better and things will finally go back to the way they should be.
After all, how do you explain to others that you’re technically a foster kid, even though you live with your aunt? And most importantly . . . how do you explain that you’re not where you belong, and you just want to go home?
Alebrijes
by Donna Barba Higuera
“High-stakes adventure… Beautiful, imaginative writing fills this dystopian sf novel. Though it exposes cruelty and corruption, it raises up storytelling, culture, and kindness as stronger yet… A wondrous addition to any collection.” — Booklist (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
The follow-up to Newbery and Pura Belpré Award-winning The Last Cuentista. For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel – or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms. They don’t last long.
13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them – the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations.
When Gabi is caught stealing precious fruit from the Pocatelan elite, Leando takes the fall. But his exile proves more than he ever could have imagined — far from a simple banishent, his consciousness is placed inside an ancient drone and left to fend on its own. But beyond the walls of Pocatel lie other alebrijes like Leandro who seek for a better world — as well as mutant monsters, wasteland pirates, a hidden oasis, and the truth.
Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock
by Jesús Trejo, Eliza Kinkz
Ebook | Audiobook | Spanish ebook (El Barrilito Mágico de Papá)
“Exuberantly scribbled pencil, ink, watercolor, gouache, and crayon drawings by Kinkz (Goldie’s Guide to Grandchilding) give the animated prose an exuberant immediacy and plenty of heart.” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
Today, little Jesús has a big job to do. He’s helping Papá at work, and he’s in charge of the water jug—which is also a magical clock! When it’s empty, Papá explains, the workday is done. But what about all these thirsty animals? Soon, the water is gone, but the day is not over yet. Will Jesús be fired?! Or is the jug not really magical after all? This mischievous tale will warm your heart and make you laugh!
Aniana del Mar Jumps In
by Jasminne Mendez
Ebook | Audiobook | Spanish ebook (Aniana del Mar se avienta)
“The nuanced depiction of disability, intergenerational conflict, and family trauma make this a must-have for all middle grade shelves.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
A powerful and expertly told novel in verse about a twelve-year-old Dominican American swimmer who is diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis by an award-winning poet.
Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani’s stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be.
Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a poignant story about chronic illness and disability, the secrets between mothers and daughters, the harm we do to the ones we love the most—and all the triumphs, big and small, that keep us afloat.
Benita y las criaturas nocturnas
by Mariana Llanos, Cocoretto
Spanish ebook | English ebook (Benita and the Night Creatures)
“Boldly colored pencil and digital illustrations pop against mostly black backdrops. Young book lovers will relate to Benita’s devotion to reading and be amused by the friendly night creatures, who are all based on Peruvian legends.” — The Horn Book, Inc.
SYNOPSIS:
Remembering
by Xelena González, Adriana M. Garcia
Ebook | Spanish ebook (Te recuerdo)
“A gorgeous, deeply touching exploration of grief and remembrance.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
A child and their family observe the customs of Día de los Angelitos, one of the ritual celebrations of Día de Muertos, to celebrate the life of their beloved dog who passed away. They build a thoughtful ofrenda to help lead the pet’s soul home and help the little one process their grief in this moving reminder that loved ones are never really gone if we take the time to remember them.
2024 Pura Belpré winners & honorees: Young adult & adult
Saints of the Household
by Ari Tison
“In this striking, assured debut exhibiting a measured pace and delicate writing, Tison (Bribri) probes the ties of adolescent brotherhood and ways the effects of violence can stall self-directed growth… Remarkably compelling.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
Max and Jay have always depended on one another for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, the two Bribri American brothers have learned that the only way to protect themselves and their mother is to stick to a schedule and keep their heads down.
But when they hear a classmate in trouble in the woods, instinct takes over and they intervene, breaking up a fight and beating their high school’s star soccer player to a pulp. This act of violence threatens the brothers’ dreams for the future and their beliefs about who they are. As the true details of that fateful afternoon unfold over the course of the novel, Max and Jay grapple with the weight of their actions, their shifting relationship as brothers, and the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. They’ll have to reach back to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.
Told in alternating points of view using vignettes and poems, debut author Ari Tison crafts an emotional, slow-burning drama about brotherhood, abuse, recovery, and doing the right thing.
The Prince and the Coyote
by David Bowles, Amanda Mijangos
Ebook | Audiobook | Spanish ebook (El princípe y la coyote)
“Bowles adeptly crafts a complex, multi-format, and genre-bending novel for teens.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
From the award-winning David Bowles comes a heart-pounding historical epic that is Gladiator meets the Song of Achilles — The Count of Monte Cristo set in pre-Columbian Mexico. Illustrated throughout gorgeously by Amanda Mijangos, The Prince & the Coyote brings to life one of Mexico’s most treasured heroes – Nezahualcoyotl – in a story that will thrill readers far and wide.
Worm
A Cuban American Odyssey
by Edel Rodriguez
“In depicting both Cuba and the United States at their best and worst, Time cover artist Rodriguez’s debut graphic memoir is a stunningly rendered elegy for the dreams of revolutionaries, immigrants, and parents.” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
SYNOPSIS:
Hailed for his iconic art on the cover of Time and on jumbotrons around the world, Edel Rodriguez is among the most prominent political artists of our age. Now for the first time, he draws his own life, revisiting his childhood in Cuba and his family’s passage on the infamous Mariel boatlift.
Through vivid, stirring art, Worm tells a story of a boyhood in the midst of the Cold War, a family’s displacement in exile, and their tenacious longing for those they left behind. It also recounts the coming-of-age of an artist and activist, who, witnessing American’s turn from democracy to extremism, struggles to differentiate his adoptive country from the dictatorship he fled. Confronting questions of patriotism and the liminal nature of belonging, Edel Rodriguez ultimately celebrates the immigrants, maligned and overlooked, who guard and invigorate American freedom.
Seeking more stories for Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond?
For the full list of 2024 Pura Belpré winners & honorees and more recommended reading, check out the lists below, compiled by expert Digital Content Librarians.
Tags In
Browse blog and media articles
Public Library Training
K-12 Library Training