Suggested Reading List
This recommended reading list provides a variety of suggested books by grade level for children of all ages, as well as a selection of suggested books for adult reading. Just Read, Florida! makes reading a priority in Florida's public schools and among the community groups and volunteer organizations that support them. This recommended reading list serves that goal while increasing students' interest in the many aspects and contributions of Hispanic culture to the state of Florida.
Elementary (Pre K-2)
| Title | Author |
| Doña Flor | Pat Mora |
| My Mexico | Tony Johnston |
| Salsa Stories | Lulu Delacre |
| Abuela | Arthur Dorros |
| Gathering the Sun | AlmaFlor Ada |
| Moon Rope | Lois Ehlert |
| Pablo's Tree | Pat Mora |
| Chato's Kitchen | Gary Soto |
| Yagua Days | Cruz Martel |
| Xochtil and the Flowers | Jorge Argueta |
| New Shoes for Silvia | Johanna Hurwitz |
| The Spirit of Tío Fernando | Janice Levy |
| Hispanic Scientists: Ellen Ochoa, Carlos A. Ramirez, Eloy Rodriguez, Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Maria Elena Zavala
| Jetty St. John |
| I Am Latino: The Beauty of Me | Sandra Pinkney |
Elementary (3-5)
| Title | Author |
| Family Pictures | Carmen Lomas Garza |
| Extraordinary Hispanic Americans | Susan Sinnott |
| The Bossy Gallito | Lucia Gonzalez |
| Love to Mamá: A Tribute to Mothers | Pat Mora |
| Calling the Doves/El Encanto De Las Palomas | Juan Felipe Herrera |
| Family Pictures | Carmen Lomas Garza |
| Iguanas in the Snow and other Winter Poems | Francisco X. Alarcón |
| Under the Royal Palms: a Childhood in Cuba | Alma Flor Ada |
| Learning About Determination From the Life of Gloria Estefan | Meanne Stazzabosco |
| Ivan Rodriguez | Tony DeMarco |
| Emiliano Zapata: Revolutionary and Champion of Poor Farmers | R. Conrad Stein |
| Alicia Alonso: First Lady of the Ballet | Sandra Martin Arnold |
| The Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans | Nicholas E. Meyer |
| Famous Hispanic Americans | Janet Morey |
| Ellen Ochoa: The First Hispanic Woman Astronaut | Romero Maritza |
Middle School (6-8)
| Title | Author |
| César Chávez: A Voice for Farmworkers | Bárbara C. Cruz |
| When I was a Boy Neruda Called Me Policarpo | Poli Délano |
| Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States | Lori Carlson, Editor |
| Crossing the Wire | Will Hobbs |
| Breaking Through | Francisco Jiménez |
| Under the Same Sky | Cynthia DeFelico |
| Struggling to Become an American | Robin Santos Doak |
| The Color of My Words | Lynn Joseph |
| Wachale! Poetry and Prose about Growing Up Latino in America | Ilan Stavans, Editor |
| Extraordinary Hispanic Americans | Susan Sinnott |
| Baseball in April and Other Stories | Gary Soto |
| Call Me Maria: a Novel | Judith Ortiz Cofer |
| Hispanic, Female and Young: An Anthology | Edited by Phyllis Tashlik |
| My Daughter, My Son, the Eagle, the Dove: An Aztec Chant | Ana Castillo |
| Cuba 15 | Nancy Osa |
| Becoming Naomi León | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
| The Tree is Older than You Are | Edited by Naomi Shihab Nye |
| Petty Crimes | Gary Soto |
| Flight to Freedom | Ana Veciana-Suarez |
| Among the Volcanoes | Omar S. Castañeda |
High School (9-12)
| Title | Author |
| Journey of the Sparrows | Fran Leeper Buss |
| Jesse | Gary Soto |
| Yo! | Julia Alvarez |
| El Bronx Remembered | Nicholasa Mohr |
| Laughing Out Loud, I Fly: Poems in English and Spanish | Juan Felipe Herrera |
| How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents | Julia Alvarez |
| Bless Me, Ultima | Rudolfo Anaya |
| When I Was Puerto Rican | Esmeralda Santiago |
| Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States | Lori Marie Carlson |
| The Shadow of the Wind: A Novel | Carlos Ruiz Zafón translated by Lucia Graves |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel García Márquez |
| American Chica | Maria Arana |
| Taking Sides | Gary Soto |
| Before We Were Free | Julia Alvarez |
| Riding Low on the Streets of Gold: Latino Literature for Young Adults | Edited, with an introduction Judith Ortiz Cofer |
| Growing Up Inside the Sanctuary of My Imagination | Nicholasa Mohr |
| Curse of the Chupa Cabra | Rudolfo Anaya |
| Accidental Love | Gary Soto |
| The Importance of a Piece of Paper: Stories | Jimmy Santiago Baca |
| Crazy Loco | David Talbot Rice |
Adult Reading
| Title | Author |
| Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez | Richard Rodriguez |
| The Line of the Sun | Judith Ortiz Cofer |
| Empress of the Splendid Season | Oscar Hijuelos |
| In the Time of the Butterflies: A Novel | Julia Alvarez |
| Never Through Miami | Robert Quesada |
| Down These Mean Streets | Piri Thomas |
| Our House in the Last World | Oscar Hijuelos |
| The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love | Oscar Hijuelos |
| Collected Fictions | Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Andrew Hurley |
| Shadow without a Name | Ignacio Padilla, translated by Peter R. Bush & Anne McCleane |
| By the Lake of Sleeping Children: The Secret Life of the Mexican Border | Luis Alberto Urrea |