Latina business owner creates a literacy hub for diverse voices
Spanish Teacher expands mobile book store to brick and mortar in Bellmore.
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A Bellmore mother is turning her passion for literature and community into a growing local business.
Denise Cruz, a high school Spanish teacher in the Sewanhaka Central High School District, recently expanded her business, The Wandering Page, from a traveling book truck into a brick-and-mortar bookstore in the heart of Bellmore.
“I wanted it to be something that people found joy in, where people can be creative and socialize with others,” Cruz said.
With the help of her husband, Cruz opened the storefront this summer, creating a space where readers can gather, discover new books and connect through shared interests.
“We definitely felt that a bookstore here would add value to the neighborhood, where we raised our children, where we know the community, where we shop, where we eat,” Cruz said.
Since opening, the Latina-owned bookstore has become a hub for community events, hosting author readings, book clubs and creative workshops. The shop also continues to offer some of the unique products that helped launch the business, including handmade crafts and its popular “blind date with a book” experience, where readers choose a mystery title based only on the genre listed on the wrapping.
“Genre is written on the outside and the book inside is a surprise,” Cruz explained.
Cruz credits her love of literature to learning English through books after immigrating from the Dominican Republic at a young age. Today, that passion shapes the bookstore's mission. The Wandering Page features works by independent authors and writers from diverse backgrounds, including several Long Island authors.
“It gives them kind of a different taste,” Cruz said. “I just hope that people love the space as much as we do.”
For Cruz, the response from the community has been overwhelming.
“It’s been surreal,” she said.
Although The Wandering Page now has a permanent home in Bellmore, fans of the original business can still find Cruz's book truck at outdoor events across Long Island.
