PROFESSIONAL READING

Atravesados: Essays on Queer Latinx Young Adult Literature

To Be Determined. (Children’s Literature Association Series). Feb. 2025. 254p. ed. by Boffone, Trevor & Cristina Herrera, eds. pap $30. ISBN 9781496854490.
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A. beautiful and comprehensive overview of queer identity in Young Adult literature. This compilation of essays features a variety of voices that critically analyze and engage with queer Latinx perspectives in YA fiction, a category that has historically not seen Latinx readers—much less queer Latinx readers—as a viable market in the American sphere. However, this book firmly establishes the wide diversity of YA fiction—in subject matter, medium, and audience range—that engages with Latinx culture in ways that can only happen through centering Latinx characters. Throughout the essays, the authors highlight how culturally relevant elements to queer storytelling (such as the serenata) can only happen through centering Latinx characters, and the critical role YA fiction plays in subverting the traditionally tragic story of queer Latinx characters. The essays also highlight more complex themes, such as rejecting toxic masculinity, violence against femme bodies, the struggle of being an outsider in multiple communities, and navigating the paradox of family values within a homophobic family.
VERDICT An exploration of Latinx queerness that was, is, and will be; a much-needed and thorough examination of a subject that is frequently invisible in American media.
Reviewed by Jeanne Kambara , Aug 01, 2025

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