I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Young Adult Fiction
Alfred A. Knopf
October 17, 2017
Hardcover
352
Purchased
Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.
But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.
Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?
My review:
I picked this book off my shelves for LatinX month. Despite the fact that it was a National Book Award finalist, I was hesitant because I'm not a big fan of young adult novels. They always seem geared on a relationship, and while I'm sure that appeals to many, I just feel like I'm being hit over the head with the obligatory romance. I'm not going to say that there wasn't a romance in this one (because there is), but it was not the focus of the novel, and for that I was grateful. What is the focus is the effect extremely strict parenting can have on a child. While I never really loved Julia's (in my terms) bratty teenage behavior, I got it, and understood why she was that way. Put together her repressive mother, her desire to go to college, and the death of her 'perfect' sister, and Julia is torn between what is right in her family and culture, and what is right for her. I got a good sense of the Mexican experience in this book. From the descriptions of the food, to Julia's visit with relatives in Mexico, along with her parents immigrant experience, the author does a nice job of weaving these pieces into the story seamlessly. I wasn't a huge fan of the mystery surrounding her sister, or the teen romance, but I did really like Julia's friends and especially her teacher who encourages her to reach for her dreams.
All in all this was a really solid young adult novel about a Mexican immigrant family, and a girl trying to assimilate into American culture, despite her family's wishes and norms.
