Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. To get into the mood, please consider these books.
Ve
rdict in the Desert
Race and class are on trial in this courtroom
battle rife with murder, love and betrayal.
A detail-rich novel about an Arizona murder trial, prejudice,
and American culture in the late 1950s.
Kirkus Review
An exceptionally well written, complex and riveting novel from beginning to end, “Verdict in the Desert” reveals author Patricia Santos Marcantonio as an
impressively gifted writer able to engage and consistently compel her reader’s attention
from beginning to end. Simply stated, “Verdict in the Desert” is unreservedly
recommended for personal reading lists, as well as both community and university
library Literary Fiction collections.
Midwest Book Reviews
Published by Arte Público Press, the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by U.S. Hispanic authors.
Red Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Cuentos
A retelling of familiar fairy tales with Latino flavor
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Red Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Cuentos earned a Anne Izard Storyteller’s Choice Award and was 
named an Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Commended Title and one of the Wilde Awards Best Collections to Share, as well as a Starred review from the American Library Association. Stories from the book are included in the National Geographic School Publishing “Inside Language, Literary and Content” textbook and were made into a children’s play by the University of Arizona’s Educational Theatre Company in Tucson. The book is also on the reading list of many school districts.
The Weeping Woman
When children begin disappearing, San Antonio Detective BLUE RODRIGUEZ is assigned to investigate because the kidnappings took place in her old neighborhood. Beautiful and driven, Blue has an ability she hates, that is to 
see the last moments of the dying. After hitting dead ends, she finds the kidnappings echo an old Mexican ghost story, which leads her to a suspect who is evil and with powers of her own. Blue must confront her own troubled past and come to term with her visions to find the stolen children
“The Weeping Woman has it all: a gritty, smart-mouthed, street-smart cop; a crime you’re slammed with on page one, amazingly detailed characters, and superb writing …Santos Marcantonio knows how to tell a story and knows how to write it well.”
Rachel Bennett, Books Addicts
“… an excellent tale that masterfully combines horror and mystery.”
Hellhorror.com
“While horror of a specific sort, The Weeping Woman is also an entirely human—and humane—novel about rescue and redemption.”
Michael R. Collings, Collings Notes