Un book review breve de "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter"

Title: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Author: ERIKA L. SÁNCHEZ

Do you ever feel like you are not mexican or american enough? Have you ever felt like your parents (or society) had certain expectations for you to meet that weren’t necessarily priorities in your life? If so, I highly recommend you read  I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter written by Erika L. Sanchez.

Julia, the protagonist in this novel constantly struggles to meet her mom’s expectations of what it takes to be a perfect Mexican daughter. She is constantly compared to her older sister Olga, who everyone deems a perfect Mexican daughter. However, after Olga dies in a tragic accident, Julia begins to discover that her sister was living a double life and wasn’t as perfect as everyone thought. As a way to cope with her loss, Julia’s mom constantly compares Julia to her dead sister, which truly hurts Julia because no matter what she does, she never feels like a god enough hija.

Despite their recent loss, Julia aspires to be someone in life and has a desire to move out of her house and attend college out of state. Her parents do not support this decision, therefore, she has to figure out a way to try to make this happen for herself. Here, the reader gets to experience the struggles a first generation college students has to overcome in order to “make it”.

This novel was an easy, fun and authentic read of what it means to grow up Latina in the U.S. It’s one of the few novels that actually discusses issues that our youth quotidianly struggle and live with. Aside from that, the author, Erika L. Sanchez, is a Chicago native who grew up in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood near Chicago. She’s a perfect example that success is attainable for our Latino youth in Chicago.

If you are a Spanish educator, this book is now also available in Spanish for your students to enjoy:
No soy tu perfecta hija mexicana