Ay Mija!: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

Here in the U.S., September 15th-October 15th is Latine Heritage Month! If there’s one thing that living under two rounds of the Trump administration has made abundantly clear, is that the government does not want any marginalized group—especially BIPOC—to feel any sort of pride in themselves or their cultures. Being a part of the Latine community has made that blatantly evident to me. Day after day, Latine people continue to be unjustly detained by ICE and shot in broad daylight. To the people in power, our cultures are not worth celebrating, nor are they worth acknowledging at all, not when we supposedly “don’t belong” here.

That argument obviously doesn’t hold up to anybody with even the most basic knowledge of U.S. history. While the government disparages Latine laborers, they stand on structures that have been built by generations of our labor. ICE agents indulge in cuisine from Latine immigrants, and then detain those same immigrants in the same breath. Our vastly diverse cultures have been embedded in the fabric of this country, and the refusal of the country at large to acknowledge this has led to the thoughtless dehumanization of Latine people of all kinds, simply for the color of their skin or the language that they speak. Even I, with my mixed-race heritage and my decidedly very white-passing skin (and privilege), find it hard not to feel like a squashed bug on the daily having to see the casual disparagement of our rich communities. But what brings me back to earth is to have that pride: to read books from my heritage, to try and cook food from my culture, and to have any sense of pride. To love your heritage—heck, to put any effort into looking into it at all—is to be the very thing that your government wants to suppress. What my queerness has taught me is that being loud and proud isn’t the safest option, and the same logic applies here; all that matters is to foster that pride and curiosity wherever you can.

More than ever, Latine people of all walks of life could use your help in this country. This is a non-exhaustive list, but here are some excellent charities that you can support.

CHARITIES YOU CAN SUPPORT:

This is a non-exhaustive list! I encourage you to look for other options, and let me know of any other great charities supporting the Hispanic/Latine community in the comments.

For my past lists for Latine Heritage Month, click here:

THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S BOOKS FOR LATINE HERITAGE MONTH (2026 EDITION)

FANTASY AND MAGICAL REALISM:

Beasts of Carnaval – Rosália Rodrigo | Adult | historical fiction, epic fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gods of Jade and Shadow – Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Adult | historical fiction, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
A Tall Dark Trouble – Vanessa Montalban | YA | historical fiction, mystery, urban fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez | Adult | historical fiction, magical realism, classics | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
The Volcano Daughters – Gina María Balibrera | Adult | historical fiction | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summer in the City of Roses – Michelle Ruiz Keil | YA | historical fiction, magical realism, LGBTQ+, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

SCIENCE FICTION:

The Q – Amy Tintera | YA | dystopia, action, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Scout’s Honor – Lily Anderson | YA | disability, sci-fi/fantasy, paranormal | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

REALISTIC/HISTORICAL FICTION:

The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar – Sonido Reyes | YA | LGBTQ+, disability, coming-of-age | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The First Rule of Punk – Celia C. Pérez | MG | contemporary, coming-of-age | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
If We Were a Movie – Zakiya N. Jamal | YA | LGBTQ+, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Brownstone – Samuel Teer and Mar Julia | YA | graphic novels, historical fiction, LGBTQ+, coming-of-age | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NONFICTION:

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza – Gloria Anzaldúa | Adult | LGBTQ+, memoir, feminism | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora – edited by Saraciea J. Fennell | YA | anthologies, feminism, poetry | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
¡Ay, Mija!: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico – Christine Suggs | YA | LGBTQ+, graphic memoir | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color – Caro de Robertis | Adult | LGBTQ+, anthologies | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 🇺🇾
A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community – Natalia Molina | Adult | history, feminism | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, did you like them? What are some of your favorite books by Latine/x authors? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this recommendations post! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Happy Friday, bibliophiles!

Man, time to do wrap-ups? Barely, but I have some time on my hands and there’s nothing I love more than organizing my reading stats into bulleted lists, so why not? (The only reason I’ve been able to make this many posts this week is because most of them were started several weeks prior, but I digress.)

The past few months have been strangely calm, if you set aside…well, everything that’s been going on lately. I don’t think I have to explain. I’ve been working really hard to try and be as levelheaded as I can in the face of all of these crises. Levelheaded and hopeful. Neither of these mean ignorant bliss to me—I’m continuing to speak up when I can, read what they don’t want us to read, and put my money into places that respect my existence. (wink wink, nudge nudge…hope everybody who was financially able participated in the economic boycott today! 😉) Miraculously, this semester has given me the space to work at practicing that—I’ve had a lot more free time (almost an alien concept after last semester), so I’ve been working at putting my energy into what counts, mainly being creative and feeding my soul. I finished the first draft of book 3 in the sci-fi trilogy I’ve been working at since I was 16 (!!!!!!!!!!). I’ve tried to take up knitting. (Unsuccessful so far, but I’m trying to keep at it), and I’ve tried to draw and read when I’ve got the time. That, and getting on the mining grind in Minecraft and being paralyzed as Severance consumes every waking thought I have. GOD, what a show. All this is to say that this isn’t a straight journey—I’m by no means a master at being levelheaded and balancing work with creativity, but I’m trying to learn from my mistakes. All you can do is try.

JANUARY READING WRAP-UP

I read 15 books in January! In the gap between winter break and the start of the spring semester, I read some fantastic books, from whimsical graphic novels to classic sci-fi hijinks.

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Marble Queen – Anna Kopp and Gabrielle Kari (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Heavenly Tyrant (Iron Widow, #2) – Xiran Jay Zhao (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Blue, Beautiful World – Karen Lord (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Circumference of the World – Lavie Tidhar (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
How to Steal a Galaxy (Chaotic Orbits, #2) – Beth Revis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Desert Echoes – Abdi Nazemian (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Cat Who Saved Books – Sōsuke Natsukawa (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas – Marie-Helene Bertino (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
American Hippo – Sarah Gailey (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Hammajang Luck – Makana Yamamoto (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, #2) – Holly Jackson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
¡Ay, Mija!: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico – Christine Suggs (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Dust – Alison Stine (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Tidesong – Wendy Xu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Infinity Particle – Wendy Xu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Infinity Particle – 4.5 stars

REVIEWS:

BONUS:

A Reading List for the Coming Four Years | Books for Rising, Resisting, and Keeping the Hope

SUNDAY SONGS:

FEBRUARY READING WRAP-UP

I read 13 books in February! This month was slightly slower (and shorter, obviously) than January, but I was able to read several books that I’ve been excited to get around to for months! As I usually do, I focused more on Black authors for Black History Month, and discovered some great books and authors as a result.

2 – 2.75 stars: