Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This is an important book. Any text that captures the voice of the heretofore voiceless is an important text. The power of putting many voices of the Latinx diaspora in one place is infinite. Not all of these texts are appropriate for high school readers in all schools, but they’re important nonetheless. I also appreciate that they also help amplify the writers’ identities in the literary community. Buy this one.

A beautiful compilation of stories that bring you back to something your abuela or bisabuela might have passed on.

There is so much to love about this book! First, if you're hoping to discover more latinx authors, anthologies are always a great way to do that. This book also captures so many experiences of the latinx community, There are essays that bring new perspective, made me emotional, and made me feel seen.

These essays cover topics across the latinx diaspora and its intersections, including race, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender roles, generational trauma, and the immigrant experience.

This is an incredible collection, and my library will definitely be purchasing it so that the majority Latinx teens in my community can see themselves, their triumphs, and their struggles on the page.

I’m new to anthologies and still figuring out how I feel about them. This one was more educational than entertaining, and I’ll also say this book wasn’t written for me since I don’t identify as Latinx. That said, I can see how powerful hearing these mini biographies would be for Latinx teens and it will be one I recommend for those wanting to diversify their own experiences and seeking to learn more about the complexities and nuances of the Latinx experiences. I really enjoyed seeing the versatility of all the different authors stories and POVs.

This is definitely a unique book! I love that it featured a lot of authors that I know and love in terms of their fiction writing, so I really enjoyed reading about their real life experiences. The book says it is geared toward a younger audience, but I thought it was for more of an adult audience. I enjoyed reading about different experiences from mine. We need more of this on all of our book shelves. We need to be made aware of lives that are not like ours, and people who do have the same experiences need to be able to read about topics they can relate to! Thanks to Net Galley for a gifted e-copy of this book.

Beautiful stories sharing triumphs and hardships of Latinx and Afro-Latinx authors. Truly a beautiful work and easily adaptable for classrooms. My middle schoolers will love to see themselves in the text and hear from authors they already enjoy

The only thing I don't agree with is that this book is YA but it is a book young and new adult me would have much appreciated. The series of essays resonated so much with my own Latinx experience and even the ones not meant for me touched me to my core. Highly recommend it.

I liked that this contained so many voices from the diaspora, including many Afro-Latinx voices (not all of whom identify as Afro-Latinx; I found it interesting to see which terms people embraced or accepted or rejected and why). I found the essays to be quite uneven, which I guess is expected in most essay collections. Finally, I was a bit surprised to see this one categorized as YA. Perhaps because the authors wanted to speak to young adults who are exploring their identities? But I also think it's very relevant for adults. I hope this collection is appreciated by Latinx readers.

This nonfiction collection of stories is so important for this day and age. I think this is one of those books that should be in every school in the world and available for readers of all ages. Each of the stories work so well with each other and each tell their tale with so much emotion that you can not put it down.

I absolutely loved this book. It gives an excellent selection of different perspectives on what different people feel it is to be Latinx (and what it's not) and we simply need stories like this in the hands of our youth. I loved these stories and am super excited to share this book in my classroom!

Brilliant! Fennell's collection of essays brings together writers with often similar, yet uniquely individual, perspectives on the Latinx Diaspora. Each essay should be savored in its richness.

This collection brings voices to the table who have long been shunted aside or ignored in the kitchen. And while it may speak strongest to those who belong to the communities represented here, all readers would benefit from reading these vivid and thoughtful explorations of culture, community, family, and home.

As a white Jewish woman, Ingrid Rojas Contreras's "Invisible" resonated so strongly with its depiction of family-by-marriage dynamics that strive to silence those who are different and her struggle with in-laws who raised her husband who loves her, yet cannot understand why their beliefs, actions - even their love - is anathema and poisonous to her.

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed is a collection of essays about being more than stereotypes. It showcases variety, introduces conversations, and features a fantastic list of authors. For you, it may serve as a list of favorites or inspire a TBR. For me, it's a combination of both with some of my all time favorites like Mark Oshiro as well as newer authors to me. As a whole, Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed is full of heart, vulnerability, and love.

This collection is excellent (though there were a couple of essays that didn't flow as well with the rest, imo). I thought the editorial decision to have the collection conclude with Elizabeth Acevedo's beautifully assertive essay was brilliant (and OF COURSE Acevedo's essay was pure magic when it comes to language and breaking apart common expressions in English and Spanish).

The range of stories, authors, and approaches in WILD TONGUES CAN'T BE TAMED is outstanding. I love the nuance represented in the different pieces and how specific each author's voice is on the page. It's a collection I can take into a classroom in hopes of a student seeing themselves--or, at least, getting much closer than they have in the past. This book plus the short story collection LIVING BEYOND BORDERS are the books we need more of and I'm very grateful that I can share these with my students.

What is it like feeling you never fit in? Writers from Afro-LatinX, Caribbean and Central American communities share their experiences of racism, identity, culture and self-acceptance.

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed is an absolutely beautiful anthology that explores the wide breadth of LatinX identity, and dives deep into the vastly varying but all beautiful experiences of people who identify as LatinX. To see so many of these contributors discuss Afro-LatinX identity and grapple with the implications of anti-Blackness in the LatinX culture was really eye opening for me. I do not identify as LatinX, but I work as a librarian in a school where many students do struggle with their identity, and their LatinX vs. their Blackness and how they are connected, and who don't see themselves accurately represented on a demographic sheet for tests and scholarships. I will certainly be sharing these stories with my students and placing this book in the library. I cannot say enough how moving this anthology was.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


An epic anthology. It is full of mystery and intrigue. Each writer's voice shined through their stories. I could so see this as a Sundance film that becomes a cult classic. Refreshing and amazing!

5 stars

I loved this and hope there is another installment coming soon. In fact, I'd like to see a whole series!

YA has many merits, but variety within subgenres isn't really on that list. That's just a part of why this collection is so fantastic.

Full disclosure: I wanted to read this because of the cover and the all-star list of writers. I did not lose out in my laziness this time, so readers taking a similar approach should know that it may actually work!

The essays here present intersectional identities and heterogeneous experiences that are riveting. One struggle with collections is usually that some of the entries blow your mind and others are just okay. For me, every entry here is really strong, and a few of them will stay with me for years.

While I read part of the book on my Kindle, I received an audio version about 1/4 of the way into my adventure, and I HIGHLY recommend that. Each author voices their own text, and that makes an incredible impact, especially in the personal narrative format. It's one thing to imagine a persona's emotion and a whole other to actually feel it coming through your speakers.

I will recommend this highly to students and apt audiences for a long time and will absolutely consider teaching chunks of it. What a gem!