February is fresh with new books by writers of color. Fall in love with stories of coming-of-age in Colombia and New York City, a memoir about second chances, and a young adult novel about overcoming imposter syndrome and navigating a multicultural identity. This February reading list is sure to please!

My What If Year by Alisha Fernandez Miranda 

 

Overworked and exhausted, accomplished CEO Alisha Fernandez Miranda decides to give herself a break. With the blessing of her husband and their twin boys, Miranda leaves their London home to spend one year exploring the dream jobs of her youth in search of answers to “What If?” Her journey proves it is never too late to say yes to second chances and explore the roads untraveled throughout your life.

 

 

 

Imposter Syndrome and other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park 

 

Alejandra Kim feels like she doesn’t belong anywhere. Not among her white, wealthy, and “woke” classmates at her Manhattan high school. Hardly at all in her Jackson Heights neighborhood. And she barely feels welcome at home, where things escalate after her Papi’s body is found on the subway tracks. Ale wants nothing more than to escape the city for the wide open spaces of Wyder University. But when a microaggression at school thrusts Ale into the spotlight—and into a discussion she didn’t ask for—she must discover what it means to carve out a space for yourself to belong.

 

Ana Takes Manhattan by Lissette Decos 

 

Skilled at producing swoon-worthy reality TV proposals, one would think Ana Karina’s love life would be just as extravagant. Still, her real life is proving not as simple to direct. Just when it seems as if everyone else is moving forward with their personal lives, Ana starts living with no regrets. She will pitch all her ideas at work, no matter how unlikely. She’ll take a chance on a guy even if he doesn’t check all her boxes for Mr. Right. With all this excitement, Ana should be on her way to her own happily ever after. Instead, her life is getting messier by the second. Yet, throwing caution to the wind may still bring Ana more than she hoped for as she begins to listen to her heart. 

 

Abyss by Pilar Quintana

Claudia is an impressionable eight-year-old girl, trying to understand the world through the eyes of the adults around her. But her hardworking father hardly speaks a word. At the same time, her unhappy mother spends her days reading celebrity lifestyle magazines, tending to her enormous collection of plants, and filling Claudia’s head with stories about women who end their lives in tragic ways. Then an interloper arrives, disturbing the delicate balance of family life. Claudia’s world starts falling apart.

 

 

 

 

Hijab Butch Blues: a memoir by Lamya H

Lamya is fourteen years old when she realizes she has a crush on her female teacher. She’s spent years feeling like her own desires and dreams don’t matter, finding it easier to disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything. When Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be . . . like Lamya? Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing them to some of the Quran’s most famous stories. This intimate memoir in essays celebrates what it means to be a seeker and an architect of one’s life.