The YA market for books in Spanish (trade and school) in the U.S. will never be as large as the one in English, but it is healthy, growing, and one that commands attention. An expert gives two reasons to this growth: immigration of Latin Americans and dual language education.

“While in Miami earlier this year to promote her latest novel, the thriller El juego de Ripper, bestselling author Isabel Allende was overjoyed to find that most of the audience were young readers. These high school and college-age students had perhaps encountered her previous work in Spanish for young adults, since three of her novels—La ciudad de las bestias (2002), El reino del dragón de oro (2003), and El bosque de los pigmeos (2004)—have been part of the nation’s school curricula for several years.” reports Publishers Weekly.

“The market for Spanish-language books in this country has grown for two reasons,' says Alex Correa, CEO of Lectorum, the country’s largest independent distributor of books in Spanish. 'One, because the immigration of Latin Americans continues, so there are families arriving whose first language is Spanish. That is the language they read in, and that feeds a need. The second factor is that schools in the United States are adopting dual education systems, which provide education in two languages, mostly Spanish and English.”

Read the complete story here.