Books

YOUNG-ADULT NOVELS

• Hearts of Fire and Snow. Co-authored by Guadalupe García McCall (June 2024). Selected by the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature as one of the Best Books of 2024.
• The Prince & the Coyote (October 2023). Selected by BookPage as one of the 10 Best Books of 2023. Selected by Kirkus as one of the Best YA Books of 2023. 2024 Pura Belpré Honor Book. Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Selected as one of the 2024 Best Children’s Books of the Year by the Children’s Book Committee / Bank Street College of Education.
• Secret of the Moon Conch. Co-authored by Guadalupe García McCall (June 2023). New York Public Library Best Books of 2023. Finalist, 2024 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award.

MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS

• The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande (The Unicorn Rescue Society, #4). Co-authored by Adam Gidwitz. Illustrated by Hatem Aly. (April 2019)
• GARZA TWINS Trilogy (middle-grade fantasy)
  • The Smoking Mirror (March 2015)—#1. 2016 Pura Belpré Honor Book
  • A Kingdom Beneath the Waves (April 2016)—#2
  • The Hidden City (September 2018)—#3

PICTURE BOOKS

• My Two Border Towns (September 2021)—illustrated by Erika Meza. School Library Journal Best Books of 2021, New York Public Library Best Books of 2021, Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books of 2021, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Notable Children’s Books of 2022, Children’s Book Council (CBC) and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2022 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, 2022 NCTE/CLA Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award, 2022 Américas Award (CLASP), 2023 Bank Street College Best Spanish Language Picture Book of the Year / Mejor libro infantil en español del año.
• Ancient Night (March 2023)—illustrated and with a story by David Álvarez. Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2023. Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2023. Selected by BookPage as one of the Ten Best Picture Books of 2023. Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books of 2023. Selected by the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature as one of the Best Multicultural Children’s Books of 2023. Part of The Horn Book’s Fanfare 2023 (one of the Best Books of the Year). Finalist, 2024 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. Selected by USBBY as one of 2024’s Outstanding International Books. Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. 2024 Tejas Star List. Selected as one of the 2024 Best Children’s Books of the Year by the Children’s Book Committee / Bank Street College of Education.

CHAPTER BOOKS

• 13TH STREET Series (illustrated by Shane Clester)
  • Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats (July 2020)—#1. 2022 Rhode Island Latino Book Award.
  • The Fire-Breathing Ferret Fiasco (July 2020)—#2
  • Clash of the Cackling Cougars (July 2020)—#3
  • The Shocking Shark Showdown (November 2020)—#4
  • Tussle with the Tooting Tarantulas (April 2021)—#5
  • Fight with the Freeze-Ray Fowls (August 2021)—#6

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• CLOCKWORK CURANDERA duology
  • The Witch Owl Parliament (October 2021)—#1, illustrated by Raúl the Third. Winner of the 2021 Jean Flynn Award for Best Young Adult Book from the Texas Institute of Letters. 2022 Texas Library Association Texas Maverick Graphic Novels Reading List. Finalist for the 2022 Locus Awards in the category of illustrated or art books. 2022 Eisner Awards Nominee. Winner of a 2022 Whippoorwill Award.
  • Robots of the Republic—#2 (coming fall 2027)
• TALES OF THE FEATHERED SERPENT series
  • Rise of the Halfling King (October 2020)—illustrated by Charlene Bowles. Kirkus Reviews’ Best Middle-Grade Graphic Novels of 2020; the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL) Best Multicultural Children’s Books of 2020; 2021 Texas Library Association Little Maverick list; 101 Great Books for Kids List of 2020, Evanston Public Library
  • The Hero Twins and the Magic of Song (October 2024)—illustrated by Charlene Bowles. Winner of New Mexico’s 2024 Land of Enchantment Book Award in the Coyote category (ages 8 and up).
  • The Hero Twins in the Realm of Fright (June 2026)
  • Princess Hapunda and the Lake (coming spring 2027)

MYTH AND LEGEND

• Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico (May 2018)—Kirkus Reviews’ Best YA Books of 2018 That Feed Imaginations; 2018 Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best Young Adult Book
• Ghosts of the Rio Grande Valley (September 2016)
• Border Lore: Folktales and Legends of South Texas  (June 2015)
• Creature Feature: 13 Frightening Folktales of the Rio Grande Valley (December 2013)
• Mexican Bestiary (2012)

POETRY

• Liminal (June 2024)
• A BORDER KID’S POEMS Series
  • They Call Me Güero (October 2018)—2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Outstanding Children’s Literature; 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book; 2019 Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry; 2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, among other accolades.
  • They Call Her Fregona (September 2022)—selected for Kirkus Reviews‘ list of the Best Middle Grade Books of 2022, selected by the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature as one of the Best Books of 2022, selected as one of the Best Children’s Books of the Year of 2023 by the Children’s Book Committee / Bank Street College of Education.
• Shattering and Bricolage (June 2014)

ADULT NOVELS

• THE PATH (space opera)
  • The Blue-Spangled Blue (March 2021)
  • The Deepest Green (July 2021)
  • The Rising Red (coming 2027)
  • The Swirling Black (coming 2028)
• Lords of the Earth (October 2016)

STORY COLLECTIONS

• Huckleberry Juju and Other Narrative Spells (April 2024)
• Chupacabra Vengeance (February 2017)
• The Seed: Stories from the River’s Edge (2011)

TRANSLATIONS

• La primavera de la chicharra (spring 2027)—My Spanish translation of Spring of the Cicada by Guadalupe García McCall.
• Immigrant (February 2027)—A trilingual poetry collection from Joaquín Zihuatanejo with my Spanish and Nahuatl translations of his English poems.
• El Pez Arcoíris trae la paz (April 2026)—My Spanish translation of Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale by Marcus Pfister.
• Los gemelos héroes y el Reino del Temor (June 2026)—the Spanish version of my graphic novel The Hero Twins in the Realm of Fright.
• Niña del pueblo de floricanto: Luz Jiménez, hija de los nahuas (November 2025)—My Spanish translation of Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua by Gloria Amescua.
• El otoño de las luciérnagas (October 2025)—My Spanish translation of Fall of the Fireflies by Guadalupe García McCall.
• El Pez Arcoíris se escapa de la red (October 2025)—My Spanish translation of Rainbow Fish and the Great Escape by Marcus Pfister.
• El Pez Arcoíris [board book] (October 2025)—My Spanish translation of the Rainbow Fish board book.
• Buenas noches, pequeño Pez Arcoíris (April 2025)—My Spanish translation of Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.
• El Pez Arcoíris (April 2025)—My Spanish translation of Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.
• Los héroes gemelos y la magia de la canción (April 2025)—the Spanish version of my graphic novel The Hero Twins and the Magic of Song.
• La intérprete (January 2025)—My Spanish translation of The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi. One of the Best Children’s Books of the Year in Spanish [2025] from the Bank Street College of Education, Children’s Book Committee. Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of 2025. 2026 Best Spanish Language Picture Book prize from the Spanish Language Affiliate (SLA) of the Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education. Selected as a 2026 Américas Award Commended Title.
• El barrio se levanta: La protesta que construyó el Parque Chicano (June 2024)—A Spanish translation of Barrio Rising: The Protest that Built Chicano Park by María Dolores Águila.
• El príncipe y la coyote (April 2024)—The Spanish version of my book The Prince & the Coyote.
• Efrén dividido (July 2023)—A Spanish translation of Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros.
• Noche antigua (March 2023)—the Spanish-language version of Ancient Night, illustrated and with a story by David Álvarez. Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2023. One of the Best Children’s Books of the Year in Spanish [2024] from the Bank Street College of Education, Children’s Book Committee. Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
• Le dicen Fregona (January 2023)—the Spanish version of my book They Call Her Fregona.
• La víspera del Orgullo (May 2022)—A Spanish translation of ‘Twas the Night before Pride by Joanna McClintick. Illustrated by Juana Medina.
• El Parlamento de Lechuzas (October 2021)—the Spanish version of my graphic novel The Witch Owl Parliament. Premio Campoy-Ada 2022 a la Mejor Novela Gráfica Juvenil.
• El ascenso del rey enano (September 2021)—the Spanish version of my graphic novel Rise of the Halfling King. New York Public Library Best Books of 2021.
• Mis dos pueblos fronterizos (September 2021)—the Spanish version of my book My Two Border Towns . Illustrated by Erika Meza. New York Public Library Best Books of 2021. Winner Premio Mejor Libro Infantil/Best Spanish Language Picture Book Award for 2021 (Bank Street College’s Center for Children’s Literature). Mención de Honor para el Premio Campoy-Ada 2022 al Mejor Libro de Imágenes.
• The Immortal Boy (March 2021)—A translation of No comas renacuajos by Francisco Montaña Ibáñez. 2022 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Honor Title. Finalist for the 2022 International Latino Book Awards in the Young Adult Fiction category.
• The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas (February 2021)—A translation of Diccionario de mitos de América by María García Esperón. New York Public Library Best Books of 2021. Awarded a Batchelder Honor Award by the American Library Association. Selected by the Children’s Book Council (CBC) and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) as one of the 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, selected for the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List 2022. Won the 2021 Souerette Diehl Frasier Award for Best Translation from the Texas Institute of Letters. Winner of the 2022 International Latino Book Award for YA Translation (Spanish to English).
• The Route of Ice and Salt (January 2021)—A translation of La ruta del hielo y la sal by José Luis Zárate. New York Public Library Best Books of 2021. Nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella.
• Me dicen Güero (November 2020)—the Spanish version of my book They Call Me Güero.
• Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation (March 2019)—Translations into Nahuatl of Francisco X. Alarcón’s original poems for this 25th anniversary reprint of his seminal collection.
• El verano de las mariposas (July 2018)—A translation of Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe García McCall.
• Flower, Song, Dance: Aztec and Mayan Poetry (August 2013)—2014 Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation.

BOOKS EDITED BY OR CONTAINING WORK FROM DAVID BOWLES