Junot Diaz

Books by This Author

Islandborn

girl happy face, background cityscape
Illustrated by: Leo Espinosa
Age Level: 3-6, 6-9
Language: English, Spanish vocabulary featured

When Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island — she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories — joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island and she comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: "Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you." Winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"Ghetto nerd," outcast, and anime-loving Oscar Wao is the latest in a long line of doomed generations to suffer the dreaded fuku curse of his native Dominican Republic. With humor and talent as his weapons, he perseveres, knowing "you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in."