LibGuides: IDEAS Resources: Heritage & Identity Months

Library Displays

Tredway Library typically exhibits at least one book and resource display each month. These displays tend to coincide with national heritage and identity months, and the library's outreach team often collaborates with relevant student organizations and campus offices in the selection of materials for these displays. On this page, you can find information about the library's heritage & identity month displays, as well as information about related events on campus.

September 15 - October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month

American Like Me by America Ferrera
Call Number: E 184.A1 A63625 2018

Publication Date: 2018

From award-winning actress and political activist America Ferrera comes a vibrant and varied collection of first-person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures.
Daytripper by Gabriel Ba; Fabio Moon
Call Number: PN 6790.B73 M66 2011 (Graphic Novels)

Publication Date: 2011

The acclaimed Daytripper follows Bras de Olivias Dominguez during different periods in his life, each with the same ending- his death. Daytripperfollows the life of one man, Bras de Olivias Dominguez. Every chapter features an important period in Bras' life in exotic Brazil, and each story ends the same way- with his death. And then, the following story starts up at a different point in his life, oblivious to his death in the previous issue-and then also ends with him dying again. In every chapter, Bras dies at different moments in his life, as the story follows him through his entire existence-one filled with possibilities of happiness and sorrow, good and bad, love and loneliness. Each issue rediscovers the many varieties of daily life, in a story about living life to its fullest-because any of us can die at any moment. Poignant, heartfelt and thoughtful, this comics landmark is one of the most transcendent pieces of graphic storytelling ever to hit the printed page. Brothers Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba truly compose one of the industry's masterworks.
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Call Number: PS 3603.R89 D66 2020

Publication Date: 2020

"The book tells the story of Ana, a young woman from the Dominican Republic who moves to New York in 1965 after marrying an older man, Juan. She is unhappy there, but sees a new side of life when her husband temporarily returns to the Dominican Republic leaving her in the care of his younger brother, Cesar: she can study English, go to the beach, and go dancing. When Juan returns, she has a decision to make."
Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina García
Call Number: PS 3513.A587 H43 1992

Publication Date: 1992

Cristina García's acclaimed book is the haunting, bittersweet story of a family experiencing a country's revolution and the revelations that follow. The lives of Celia del Pino and her husband, daughters, and grandchildren mirror the magical realism of Cuba itself, a landscape of beauty and poverty, idealism and corruption.
Every Day We Get More Illegal by Juan Felipe Herrera
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2020

In this collection of poems, written during and immediately after two years on the road as United States Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera reports back on his travels through contemporary America. Poems written in the heat of witness, and later, in quiet moments of reflection, coalesce into an urgent, trenchant, and yet hope-filled portrait. The struggle and pain of those pushed to the edges, the shootings and assaults and injustices of our streets, the lethal border game that separates and divides, and then: a shift of register, a leap for peace and a view onto the possibility of unity.
Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli; Christina MacSweeney (Translator)
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2014

In Mexico City, a young mother is writing a novel of her days as a translator living in New York. In Harlem, a translator is desperate to publish the works of Gilberto Owen, an obscure Mexican poet. And in Philadelphia, Gilberto Owen recalls his friendship with Lorca, and the young woman he saw in the windows of passing trains. Valeria Luiselli's debut signals the arrival of a major international writer and an unexpected and necessary voice in contemporary fiction.
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
Publication Date: 2023

From National Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo comes the story of one Dominican American family told through the voices of its women.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Call Number: PR 9199.4.M656174 G63 2020

Publication Date: 2020

"The Mayan God of Death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather's house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather's room. She opens it--and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea's demise, but success could make her dreams come true. In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City--and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld."
The Hazards of Love Book One by Stan Stanley
Call Number: PN 6727.S6565 H39 2021 (Graphic Novels)

Publication Date: 2021

The Hazards of Love follows the story of a queer teen from Queens who makes some mistakes, gets dragged into a fantastical place, and tries to hustle their way back home. Amparo's deal with the talking cat was simple: a drop of blood and Amparo's name to become a better person. Their mother and abuela would never worry about them again, and they'd finally be worthy of dating straight-A student Iolanthe. But when the cat steals their body, becoming the better person they were promised, Amparo's spirit is imprisoned in a land of terrifying, flesh-hungry creatures known as Bright World. With cruel and manipulative masters and a society that feeds on memories, Amparo must use their cleverness to escape, without turning into a monster like the rest. On "the other side," Iolanthe begins to suspect the new Amparo has a secret, and after the cat in disguise vanishes, she's left searching for answers with a no-nonsense medium from the lesbian mafia and the only person who might know the truth about Bright World.
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector; Giovanni Pontiero (Translator)
Call Number: PQ 9697.L5 H68 1992

Publication Date: 1992

Narrated by the cosmopolitan Rodrigo S.M., this brief, strange, and haunting tale is the story of Macabéa, one of life's unfortunates. Living in the slums of Rio and eking out a poor living as a typist, Macabéa loves movies, Coca-Colas, and her rat of a boyfriend; she would like to be like Marilyn Monroe, but she is ugly, underfed, sickly and unloved. Rodrigo recoils from her wretchedness, and yet he cannot avoid the realization that for all her outward misery, Macabéa is inwardly free/She doesn't seem to know how unhappy she should be. Lispector employs her pathetic heroine against her urbane, empty narrator--edge of despair to edge of despair--and, working them like a pair of scissors, she cuts away the reader's preconceived notions about poverty, identity, love and the art of fiction. In her last book she takes readers close to the true mystery of life and leave us deep in Lispector territory indeed.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende; Magda Bogin (Translator)
Call Number: PQ 8098.1.L54 C313 1986

Publication Date: 1986

Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Call Number: PS 3553.I78 H6 1991

Publication Date: 1991

The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes-sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous-Sandra Cisneros' masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Call Number: PS 3619.A517 I22 2019

Publication Date: 2019

YA novel about a teenager coming to terms with losing her sister and finding herself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican American home. "Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents' house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga's role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed. But it's not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister's story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?"
Inventing Latinos by Laura E. Gómez
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2020

“Inventing Latinos offers a unique road map for understanding how Latino identity came to be, and where it might be going. Gómez's discussion of how Latin America's mestizaje, or mixed-race ideology, is both perpetuated and sometimes re-purposed in the U.S. is one of the book's many strengths.”
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera; Celia Moscote (Illustrator)
Call Number: PN 6727.R5624 J85 2020 (Graphic Novels)

Publication Date: 2020

Critically-acclaimed writer Gabby Rivera adapts her bestselling novel alongside artist Celia Moscote in an unforgettable queer coming-of-age story exploring race, identity and what it means to be true to your amazing self. Even when the rest of the world doesn't understand.
Make Your Home among Strangers by Jennine Capó Crucet
Call Number: PS 3603.R83 M35 2016

Publication Date: 2016

When Lizet-the daughter of Cuban immigrants and the first in her family to graduate from high school-secretly applies and is accepted to an ultra-elite college, her parents are furious at her decision to leave Miami. Just weeks before she's set to start school, her parents divorce and her father sells her childhood home, leaving Lizet, her mother, and Leidy-Lizet's older sister, a brand-new single mom-without a steady income and scrambling for a place to live. Pulled between life at college and the needs of those she loves, Lizet is faced with difficult decisions that will change her life forever. Urgent and mordantly funny, Make Your Home Among Strangers tells the moving story of a young woman torn between generational, cultural, and political forces; it's the new story of what it means to be American today.
My Broken Language by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Call Number: PS 3608.U3234 Z46 2021

Publication Date: 2021

Quiara Alegria Hudes was the sharp-eyed girl on the stairs while her family danced in her grandmother's tight South Philly kitchen, "frizzy hair cut short, bangs teased into stiff clouds, sweat glistening in the summer fog, pamper-butt babies weaving between legs." Quiara was awed by her aunts and uncles and cousins, but haunted by the secrets of the family and the unspoken stories of the barrio -- even as she tried to find her own voice in the sea of language around her, written and spoken, English and Spanish, bodies and books, Western art and sacred altars. Her family became her private pantheon, a gathering of powerful orishas with tragic wounds and she vowed to tell their stories--but first she'd have to get off the stairs and join the dance; she'd have to find her language. This is an inspired exploration of home, family, memory, and belonging, narrated by the obsessed girl who fought to become an artist so she could capture the world she loved in all its wild and delicate beauty.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by García Márquez, Gabriel; Gregory Rabassa (Illustrator, Translator)
Call Number: PQ 8180.17.A73 O5

Publication Date: 1970

The rise and fall, birth and death, of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. A classic of world literature for all time--and probably Marquez's most famous work.
Onion Skin by Edgar Camacho
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2021

Discover a bright new star of Mexican comics in this romantic and thrilling tale, stuffed with adventure and delicious food. Rolando's job was crushing him… and then it literally crushed his hand. Now he can barely get out of the house, binging TV and struggling to find meaning. On a rare night out with friends, he meets Nera, a woman who lives only in the moment. Dazzled by her hedonistic attitude, Rolando sees a new life opening before him. Together, these restless youths fix up an old food truck and hit the road for a wild journey. But have they truly found the spice of life? Or has Rolando bitten off more than he can chew? Onion Skin, winner of Mexico's first ever National Young Graphic Novel Award, became a sensation in its native land for its rich narrative, captivating characters, thrilling action, and positively delicious artwork. It's a feast that will leave readers eager for a second course.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Call Number: PZ 7.A17 P64 2018

Publication Date: 2020

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, Xiomara Batista has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. She pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers--especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. Mami is determined to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, and Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. When she is invited to join her school's slam poetry club, she can't stop thinking about performing her poems.
Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2019

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's magnetic story collection breathes life into her Indigenous Latina characters and the land they inhabit. Set against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado-a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite-these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives- with caution, grace, and quiet force. In "Sugar Babies," ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth, but have the tendency to ascend during land disputes. "Any Further West" follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In "Tomi," a woman returns home from prison, finding herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood. And in the title story, "Sabrina & Corina," a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual.
Solito: a memoir by Javier Zamora
Call Number: HV 640.5.S24 Z366 2022

Publication Date: 2022

The memoir tells a story of a nine-year-old boy on his journey from a small town in El Salvador to the United States to reunite with his parents.
Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli
Call Number: JV 6600 .L85 2017

Publication Date: 2017

Structured around the forty questions Luiselli translates and asks undocumented Latin American children facing deportation, Tell Me How It Ends humanizes these young migrants and highlights the contradiction between the idea of America as a fiction for immigrants and the reality of racism and fear—both here and back home.
Unearthed by Brandon Terrell; Benny Fuentes (Cover Design by); Wilson Tortosa (Illustrator)
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2013

Omar convinces Eldrick Otus to let him lead the Revolution on a trip to recover a Fragment in Egypt. When they discover the Fragment is resting deep within a forgotten pyramid, Omar sends his two best climbers after it. The Collective, led by Elliot Addison, causes the pyramid's entrance to collapse. The teens must work together to retrieve the Fragment and find a way out...before the pyramid becomes their crypt!

National Hispanic & Latine Heritage Month is observed in the United States each year from September 15 to October 15, celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans with ancestry from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. This celebration originated in 1968 when Congress established National Hispanic Heritage Week, selecting the week of September 15 and 16 to honor the diverse cultures within the Hispanic and Latine community. These dates were chosen to commemorate significant historical milestones, including the Independence Day of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as Mexico's Independence Day.

In 1988, the observance was extended to cover a full month, encompassing events such as El Día de la Raza on October 12, which celebrates the cultural and ethnic diversity that emerged after Christopher Columbus’s arrival. The month also includes Chile's Independence Day on September 18 (El Dieciocho) and Belize's Independence Day on September 21.

Since 1989, U.S. Presidents have issued annual Presidential Proclamations to officially recognize and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month.

To learn more about National Hispanic Heritage Month use the following resources:

Augustana College and Local Resources:

Augustana College Latinx Unidos
Augustana College Casa Latina
Augustana College Hispanic-Latine Employee Resource Group
Greater Quad City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Quad Cities Regional LIDERAMOS Leadership Development Program
Palomares Social Justice Center
Mercado on Fifth