Tag Archives: Jamaican

Happy Caribbean American Heritage Month!

Happy Caribbean American Heritage Month! We’re celebrating as we do, with queer Caribbean fiction!

Middle Grade

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

Being born during a hurricane is considered unlucky where twelve-year-old Caroline Murphy lives, and she has had her share of bad luck lately. She’s hated and bullied by everyone in her small school on St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. A spirit only she can see won’t stop following her. And—worst of all—Caroline’s mother left home one day and never came back.

But when a new student named Kalinda arrives, Caroline’s luck begins to turn around. Kalinda, a solemn girl from Barbados with a special smile for everyone, becomes Caroline’s first and only friend—and the person for whom Caroline has begun to develop a crush. Now, Caroline must find the strength to confront her feelings for Kalinda, brave the spirit stalking her through the islands, and face the reason her mother abandoned her. Together, Caroline and Kalinda must set out in a hurricane to find Caroline’s missing mother—before Caroline loses her forever.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Caribbean American Heritage Month!

Fave Five: Queer Caribbean Fiction

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender (MG, USVI)

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA, Dominican Republic)

Sweethand by N.G. Peltier (Adult, Trinidad)

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn (Adult, Jamaica)

Bliss and Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde (Adult, Jamaica)

Bonus: Coming in 2023, Songs of Irie by Asha Bromfield (YA, Jamaica)

Double Bonus: For a book with a Haitian-born MC but set in the US, try American Love Story by Adriana Herrera