Rachel Afi Quinn investigates how visual media portray Dominican women and how women represent themselves in their own creative endeavors in response to existing stereotypes. Delving into the dynamic realities and uniquely racialized gendered experiences of women in Santo Domingo, Quinn reveals the way racial ambiguity and color hierarchy work to shape experiences of identity and subjectivity in the Dominican Republic. She merges analyses of context and interviews with young Dominican women to offer rare insights into a Caribbean society in which the tourist industry and popular media reward, and rely upon, the ability of Dominican women to transform themselves to perform gender, race, and class. Engaging and astute, Being La Dominicana reveals the little-studied world of today's young Dominican women and what their personal stories and transnational experiences can tell us about the larger neoliberal world.

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK Shortlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction “Through a novel with so much depth, beauty, and grace, we, like Ana, are forever changed.” —Jacqueline Woodson, Vanity Fair “Gorgeous writing, gorgeous story.” —Sandra Cisneros Fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn’t matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. So on New Year’s Day, 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights. Lonely and miserable, Ana hatches a reckless plan to escape. But at the bus terminal, she is stopped by Cesar, Juan’s free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay. As the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, Juan returns to protect his family’s assets, leaving Cesar to take care of Ana. Suddenly, Ana is free to take English lessons at a local church, lie on the beach at Coney Island, see a movie at Radio City Music Hall, go dancing with Cesar, and imagine the possibility of a different kind of life in America. When Juan returns, Ana must decide once again between her heart and her duty to her family. In bright, musical prose that reflects the energy of New York City, Angie Cruz's Dominicana is a vital portrait of the immigrant experience and the timeless coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world.

The colors of Hispaniola burst into life in this striking, evocative debut picture book that celebrates the joy of being Dominican. If Dominican were a color, it would be the sunset in the sky, blazing red and burning bright. If Dominican were a color, it’d be the roar of the ocean in the deep of the night, With the moon beaming down rays of sheer delight. The palette of the Dominican Republic is exuberant and unlimited. Maiz comes up amarillo, the blue-black of dreams washes over sandy shores, and people’s skin can be the shade of cinnamon in cocoa or of mahogany. This exuberantly colorful, softly rhyming picture book is a gentle reminder that a nation’s hues are as wide as nature itself.

An innovative historical and ethnographic examination of Dominican identity formation in the Dominican Republic and the United States.

A uniquely dark, coming-of-age novel rife with urban magical realism, love, and redemption, from the author of Bodega Dreams When Julio, a teenager living in Spanish Harlem, hears that Taina, a pregnant fifteen-year-old from his high school claims to be a virgin, he decides to believe her. Julio has a history of strange visions and his blind and unrequited love for Taina will unleash a whirlpool of emotions that will bring him to question his hard-working Puerto Rican mother and his communist Ecuadorian father, his beliefs and even the building blocks of modern science (after seeing the conception of Taina’s baby as a revolution in nature). After meeting Taína's uncle, "El Vejigante", an ex-con with a dark past, he accepts his proposal to support her during her pregnancy and becomes entangled in a web of crime that, while taking him closer to Taína, ultimately reveals a family secret that will not leave him unscathed.

Lola is a Dominican-American girl with an adventurous spirit who loves to travel and explore the world. Lola loves to try new things, meet new people, and have lots of fun while doing it! Lola travels to the Dominican Republic and we can't wait to share the rest of her travels with you in the future! One of the best things about her trip is that Lola gets to visit her beloved family that she only gets to see in the summer. Lola absolutely loves to hang out with her cousins - play in the park, go to the beach, dance with them, and more! Lola's abuela, her grandmother, makes her trip oh so special! It's always a blast when you're around your familia - your family! Lola loves to go to the beach and during her trip to the island, she makes sure to take a trip to Boca Chica - a typical beach destination when visiting the capital of Santo Domingo. She loves to have fun with her abuela - spending time with her is what makes her feel like she's home. Nothing brings her more joy than seeing her abuela every summer, beaming like the light that she is. Because the book is written in Spanglish, at the end of the story we have a glossary available with all the Spanish words and their English translations along with the definitions. It's a fun way to start introducing a new language to your life, your child's life, or to anyone whose hands the book may fall in. Aside from the glossary, there is also a page dedicated to the sharing of particular places, foods, and music that are distinctive to the Dominican Republic and referenced throughout the book. On top of it being a fun story, it's also an educational one showcasing our culture through Lola's lens! The book is an 8.5" x 8.5" hardcover book with 26 pages. The book comes to life with drawings on one side and the text on the other. There are also vibrant spreads in the book, all woven together to tell and show Lola's story in an incredible and magical way. Through the words and the illustrations, you're transported to the island alongside Lola. Whether you're Latinx or of another culture, or if you've had the experience of going to the island or not, Travel Con Lola is about family, and through the beautifully curated words and vibrant and magical illustrations, you will be able to relate to Lola - adults and children alike.

From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination. A 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places. So 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. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola 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.” Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past and to ourselves.