MBF will celebrate America as the land of freedom and opportunity with author Marie Arana. LatinoLand is an exceptional, all-encompassing yet personal overview of the Latino population of the United States from 1492 through today. As the book shows, Latinos are not a monolith, but share a main commonality – their overwhelming and historically factual desire to be Americans and champion the values set out in the Declaration of Independence.

Marie Arana was born in Lima, Peru. She is the author of the memoir American Chica, a finalist for the National Book Award; two novels, Cellophane and Lima Nights; the prizewinning biography Bolivar; Silver, Sword, and Stone, a narrative history of Latin America; The Writing Life, a collection from her well-known column for The Washington Post; and LatinoLand. She is the inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress and lives in Washington, DC, and Lima, Peru

The Big Read 2025: LatinoLand: An American History With Marie Arana