THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Díaz (2007)

Michiko Kakutani, a former book critic for the Times, once wrote that this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was “so original it can only be described as Mario Vargas Llosa meets ‘Star Trek’ meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West.” Díaz’s prose is intellectual and hood, and he draws from Taíno folklore and Dominican history to tell the story of Oscar: a nerdy second-generation kid from New Jersey whose family is plagued by a fukú curse that followed them from Santo Domingo.

A note: This year, Díaz’s reputation was tainted by allegations of sexual assault made against him by another writer, Zinzi Clemmons. He denied the accusations and has stayed largely out of the public eye since, and earlier this month, the Pulitzer Prize board announced that following a five-month inquiry, they “did not find evidence warranting removal" of Mr. Díaz from the board.

I was conflicted over whether to include this title. But to deny the influence of Díaz’s work or the significance of the perspective from which he wrote seemed disingenuous. When I first read “Oscar Wao,” in high school, I blanched at the machismo in its pages — it was a vivid reminder of a culture of misogyny that irreparably damaged my childhood. But part of literature’s value is its ability to mirror real life, and one thing is for sure: This brand of sexism remains deeply and undeniably familiar.

I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER by Erika L. Sánchez (2017)

Julia Reyes, a Mexican-American teen who is an aspiring writer and a smart mouth, is nothing like her older sister Olga, who appears “perfect” and devoted to their traditional parents. But when Olga is killed in a bus accident, Julia discovers that her sister may have been living a double life. “Part detective story, part coming-of-age tale, Sánchez’s novel doesn’t shy from heavy subject matter,” said our review. “Julia lives in a world where teenagers are no strangers to poverty, sexual assault, domestic violence and fear of deportation. And Julia’s relationship with her mother, who calls her a ‘huevona’ and a ‘malcriada' (bonus: readers get a crash course in Spanish insults) is a sticky stew of anger, love, guilt and resentment.”

THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo (2018)

This young adult novel, which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature this year, is about 15-year-old Dominican teen named Xiomara who struggles with the growing pains of adolescence: an unfamiliar body that attracts catcalling from boys and insults from girls, a strict mom who wants her to be a good church girl, and a school crush she has to keep secret. At first, Xiomara copes by getting into fights and privately pouring her frustrations into her poetry. Then, she is invited to join the school’s slam poetry club. In our reviewer Julie Fogliano’s words: “Acevedo’s powerful free verse manages to stay contained within the book’s covers. The force and intensity behind her words practically pushes them off the page, resulting in a verse novel that is felt as much as it is heard.”

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