I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Erika L. Sánchez
Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, 2017
Hardcover, 344 pages
Trigger Warnings: Explicit language, Suicide, Self-harm, Sex, Rape
About the Author: Erika L. Sánchez is the author of the poetry collection Lessons on Expulsion, and the YA novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. She is the daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants, and she grew up determined to defy borders and to become a successful writer. Languages she’s fluent in include Spanish, Spanglish, and cat. Learn more about Erika here: https://erikalsanchez.com/about/
“The border… It’s nothing but a giant wound, a big gash between the two countries. Why does it have to be like that? I don’t understand. It’s just some random, stupid line. How can anyone tell people where they can and can’t go?”
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter opens with the protagonist, Julia Reyes, attempting to wrap her head around the death of sister, Olga, whom she considers to be the perfect Mexican daughter. With Olga gone, Julia feels even more alone, with parents who don’t seem to understand her love for writing, who expect her to be the perfect Mexican daughter following expectations she refuses to accept. And when she finds out hints of Olga’s real life, one Julia had no clue of, she begins to wonder if she really knows her family at all.
Julia’s story is raw, unapologetic, and uncensored. She tells of the importance of following your dreams, even if they’re bigger than what your parents can imagine. She stresses importance of communication and reveals to the reader just how harmful silence can be, especially within a family. Above all, she shows angry girls like her who feel stuck in poverty and dead-ends that they are much more than their run-down apartments.
PRR writer, Matty Ortega
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