From the Publisher:
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 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 Thoughts:
Julia (Wholeeah) has American parent expectations from her Mexican immigrant parents. Think the mother from Like Water for Chocolate, but with a YA second daughter and in America. Her parents are immigrant parents, with first generation difficulties and struggles. They also have certain expectations that were brought over from their own country. Julia struggles with these non-American expectations because she wants to live like any American teen. She wants to not have everything figured out. She wants her parents to be ok with that, and as long Julia has her older sister Olga continued to be the good Mexican daughter, then Julia was ok. But when Olga gets killed in a pedestrian accident, Julia is full of anger. She finds something in Olga's room, and she just cannot let it go. This is where the text gets a little heavy handed. Julia is irritating in her immaturity, in the same way that I found Laura Jean Song irritating in To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Still, many young readers enjoyed it and I think they will like this one too.
In the classroom:
There are many standards that will fit this book:
- Determine a text's theme or central idea
- Analyze complex characters
- Analyze a case in which another culture is being portrayed
- For literature circles - if you want similar books try:
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Publication Information:
Author: Erika L. Sanchez
Narrator: Kyla Garcia
Publisher: Listening Library October 17, 2017
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