Boricua Morena: Memoirs of a Humboldt Park Girl: By the Author of CHOOSE ME

by Xenia Ruiz

In this impressive first collection of essays, poems, and short stories, Xenia Ruíz documents a life rarely explored in the Latino literary Diaspora, that of the Afro-Latina. Growing up in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community as a Puerto Rican girl who “looked Black,” Ruíz captures the misconceptions of what it means to be Latina. Boricua Morena is filled with memories of prejudice and pride, dreams and accomplishments, and family members as “dysfunctionally normal” as any other American family. From her first critically acclaimed essay, “Pelo Confessions of a Kinky-Haired Puerto Rican Sister,” to her searing anti-war, pro-motherhood poem, “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” to her poignant short stories of teenagers on the verge of self-discovery, Ruíz offers a fresh perspective of self-identity and self-love, and emerges as a true talent in the growing roster of first-generation, American Latina\o authors.

108 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2021