National Book Award Finalist!Instant New York Times Bestseller!The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian meets Jane the Virgin in this poignant but often laugh-out-loud funny contemporary YA about losing a sister and finding yourself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican-American home. Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do … 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?
“Alive and crackling—a gritty tale wrapped in a page-turner. ”—The New York Times
“Unique and fresh.” —Entertainment Weekly
“A standout.” —NPR
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I cried, I laughed, I cheered, I snickered, I punched my desk. It was incredible. Julia Reyes was definitely not your Perfect Mexican Daughter and just not “perfect” in general. At times I loved her and other times I didn’t, but that’s what made her so great. She wasn’t a classic “not like other girls” character, but a truly real girl that I don’t see in books very often. She was a genius, curvaceous, glasses wearing brown girl that I can absolutely get behind. Great book!
Great story that many can relate to. Her emotions and thoughts are easily followed and the story evolves beautifully.
Good story and good way to show feelings about characters
This is a great book for someone who likes reading about how life isn’t always such a ‘happily ever after’ after all.
I didn’t enjoy the constant references to other pieces of art, and I had to get used to the first person present. However, I like this book. When a child is born into another culture, it can be a challenge. The family secrets are so real. The mental health issue in our youth is real. The sad part is the parents pay it no mind.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is so full of humor, sadness, compassion, and heart that it’s not surprising this book was a finalist for a National Book Award. Julia (be sure to pronounce that the Spanish way!!) is a teenager with multiple problems. She just doesn’t fit in, and she doesn’t behave in the way a proper Mexican daughter should behave. She dresses all wrong, she talks all wrong (such a smart ass!), and worst of all, she wants to leave her family and go off to college. She has dreams of traveling the world and becoming a great writer. She’s quite unlike her “perfect” older sister Olga who is content with a lot less.
The book opens with Julia attempting to deal with Olga’s sudden death in a traffic accident. Then, to her surprise, Julia discovers evidence that Olga wasn’t quite as perfect as everyone thought. Julia’s parents, both undocumented workers, are little help. Her father never talks, and her mother is stuck in a fearful and emotionally very distressed place where she can only condemn everything important to Julia, and then finally, condemns Julia herself. She forces Julia to go through the quinceañera celebration-from-hell which is both funny and sad. We watch Julia struggle to define herself as she sinks into growing depression and hopelessness. It takes a near-tragedy for Julia’s mother to recognize her daughter’s value and to start showing some real love and compassion for Julia’s uniqueness. Meanwhile, Julia learns some things about her parents, and her mother in particular, that helps Julia develop some understanding and forgiveness for her mother who has suffered great trauma.
As I was reading this book, I was thinking about my grandmother who entered the U.S. as an immigrant when she was five years old. Like Julia, my grandmother liked doing her own thing and was constantly at odds with her parents, especially her old-world mother. First-generation immigrants have unique struggles. My heart goes out to them all, be they from Mexico, Iraq, Sudan, Nepal, or northern Italy.
I thought this was an industrious and important book. Having worked with immigrant teens for many years as a psychotherapist, the issues explored in this book are relevant and timely. The protagonist, Julia, has to navigate not only her own grief from her sister’s tragic death, but also that of her Mexican parents and extended family which exacerbates the already challenging cultural and emotional divide she experiences with them. She feels different, unable to place herself, and disconnected. I found myself empathizing with her struggle to find and understand herself in much the same way as I have with many of the teens I have worked with in therapy. A very real and engaging read.
Julia’s older sister died unexpectedly and suddenly, and that becomes the tipping point at which we begin witnessing how trauma affects her and those in her orbit. Beautifully done. Heartbreaking at times. Funny at others. So many layers at touched upon (family dynamics, secrets, friendships, mental health, social unfairnesses, the differences between generations, etc.) just by watching Julia interact with her family, friends, and those around her. Unexpected twists and wonderful small moments captured exactly perfectly.
Authentic. Honest. Not everything gets a tidy bow, just like in real life.
This book felt special.
I listened to this as an audiobook, and highly recommend that experience.
With an often difficult to like teen narrator, it isn’t long before you not only root for her, but you are inspired by her. Julia navigates grief in much the overwhelming way we feel it…harsh and gripping, stumbling through our days, angry, bitter, sinking in hope, yet not always certain if it is the grief or us. Powerful story that weaves culture and a coming-of-age tale with subtle turns that reveal a young woman who you feel will be perfectly fine.
i thought this book was absolutely fantastic. I connected with the characters on so many levels. It like shifts the way you look at certain thing and it’s such a page turner! I could not put this wonderful book down!
Poignant and funny, meaningful and engaging.