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A review by mtngirl4
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
1.0
I know that my opinion is in the minority due to the many award nominations, reviews, and movie in the works for this book, but I honestly didn't care for this book at all. I was excited to read it, as it is a Project Lit book, the author profile is impressive, and with the high Latinx population at my school, I wanted to learn more about the culture. Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything about the culture. This book could have been about a teenage girl from any culture. I think the main problem is, the author has tried to do too many things; there are so many themes in this book that none of them shine through; I was so disappointed in the execution of all of them.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Here is all that the author attempted to tackle in this novel:
-death of a loved one
-suicide
-depression
-LGBTQ rights
-pregnancy scare
-body image
-racism
-poverty
-undocumented immigration
-rape
-mother/daughter relationships
-teenage sex/drinking/drugging
-college admissions process
-personal identity
-marital infidelity
-domestic abuse
-gang shooting
-eating disorders
Mixed into this is a trip to Mexico, a stay in a mental institution, and a Quinceanera. It was just way too much to do any one theme well. Yes, some of these themes can be put together in one book, but choose a handful, not over a dozen, and give each topic the attention it deserves instead of making them all seem like an afterthought.
When the book opens, we find out that Julia's (the main character) sister Olga has died, and Julia feels that something is amiss about this. She is determined to find out the truth behind Olga's seemingly perfect life. That's where I thought this book was going: while discovering the secrets of Olga's life, Julia would come to understand her own identity. Julia does some half-hearted searching and calls a couple of Olga's friends, then nothing else really happens in that theme until almost the very end. In the meantime, Julia goes out with friends, drinks, drugs, has sex, speaks some of the foulest language, has a quinceanera, tries to commit suicide, stays in a mental institution, goes on a trip to Mexico, applies to college, and witnesses a murder. While yes, these things could be happening in her life, they are each barely touched upon, and none of them are really sorted out to any degree of satisfaction.
Here are some examples of this: at the beginning of the book, Julia has an English teacher who recognizes her intelligence and says she has a gift for writing, however, we don't get any examples of her writing until the very end of the book, and this teacher just fades away. Also, at the beginning of the book, Julia discusses how much she abhors swimming to the point that she lies about her menstruation cycle to get out it in gym class, yet at the end of the book, in the last chapter, there is a lone paragraph about how all of a sudden, swimming is her favorite thing to do every day. What? When did that happen? Both of these things could have been developed throughout the narrative, giving the theme of personal identity some teeth and giving Julia's character arc some significance. Instead, Julia's character is quite one-dimensional, and doesn't really change at all. She argues a lot, pretty much with every other character in the book, declaring that they are so closed minded and judgmental, when in reality, she is the judgmental one. She looks down on everyone who deviates from her own set of beliefs and her beliefs are never really challenged either. In fact every character seemed tropey and flat and none of them grow very much.
The author is a second generation immigrant, and I thought there would be more of her cultural experiences involved. Instead I found stereotypes and plot holes. There are vast amounts of time that just go unaccounted for and some don't even make sense. On page 125, we are told that it is April, then on page 134, we are told they aren't even halfway through second semester; which should be February- so which date is it, Mr. Editor? Also, Julia experiences her quinceanera, and the most we get is Julia complaining about the price, the ugly dress, and having to dance with cousins. We get zero cultural references about the significance of the quinceanera or what the traditions are surrounding it or why any of it is happening. It could have been any kind of party for anyone. My daughter has attended the quinceanera of a friend so I know there are many traditions significant to the culture that occur yet none are mentioned in this book.
Another issue I had is the writing. It is quite juvenile in one sense, not some great work of literature, and I get it, we are viewing the world from the perspective of a teenager, but the language is even younger, almost middle grade. Meanwhile, peppered throughout the entire novel are a variety of obscene words- not just every cuss word imaginable, but also every degrading slang word that can be said in English or in Spanish, so not appropriate for middle grade. There is no real reason for this language. It doesn't advance the plot or provide a basis for the culture, it is just offensive.
I could go on and on about the discrepancies shown in every theme the author broaches (the scenes in the mental health facility are some of the very worst) but it would just take too long. None of them are done well or appropriately. I am not sure what cause Sanchez is trying to champion with this book or what lesson we are supposed to learn; everything is just so disjointed. Maybe she wanted to talk about all these things, but doing it all in one book is not the way to handle it; it is just too much. And these themes are important, and students need to read about them, but just written in a better way.
I am interested to hear the take of my students on this novel at our next Project Lit meeting. Maybe they will have a different perspective.
*Amended to say: We discussed this book in Project Lit, and while my students didn't love it, they could relate to some of the themes, especially the Latinx students. Some themes resonated more than others and we had a great discussion.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Here is all that the author attempted to tackle in this novel:
-death of a loved one
-suicide
-depression
-LGBTQ rights
-pregnancy scare
-body image
-racism
-poverty
-undocumented immigration
-rape
-mother/daughter relationships
-teenage sex/drinking/drugging
-college admissions process
-personal identity
-marital infidelity
-domestic abuse
-gang shooting
-eating disorders
Mixed into this is a trip to Mexico, a stay in a mental institution, and a Quinceanera. It was just way too much to do any one theme well. Yes, some of these themes can be put together in one book, but choose a handful, not over a dozen, and give each topic the attention it deserves instead of making them all seem like an afterthought.
When the book opens, we find out that Julia's (the main character) sister Olga has died, and Julia feels that something is amiss about this. She is determined to find out the truth behind Olga's seemingly perfect life. That's where I thought this book was going: while discovering the secrets of Olga's life, Julia would come to understand her own identity. Julia does some half-hearted searching and calls a couple of Olga's friends, then nothing else really happens in that theme until almost the very end. In the meantime, Julia goes out with friends, drinks, drugs, has sex, speaks some of the foulest language, has a quinceanera, tries to commit suicide, stays in a mental institution, goes on a trip to Mexico, applies to college, and witnesses a murder. While yes, these things could be happening in her life, they are each barely touched upon, and none of them are really sorted out to any degree of satisfaction.
Here are some examples of this: at the beginning of the book, Julia has an English teacher who recognizes her intelligence and says she has a gift for writing, however, we don't get any examples of her writing until the very end of the book, and this teacher just fades away. Also, at the beginning of the book, Julia discusses how much she abhors swimming to the point that she lies about her menstruation cycle to get out it in gym class, yet at the end of the book, in the last chapter, there is a lone paragraph about how all of a sudden, swimming is her favorite thing to do every day. What? When did that happen? Both of these things could have been developed throughout the narrative, giving the theme of personal identity some teeth and giving Julia's character arc some significance. Instead, Julia's character is quite one-dimensional, and doesn't really change at all. She argues a lot, pretty much with every other character in the book, declaring that they are so closed minded and judgmental, when in reality, she is the judgmental one. She looks down on everyone who deviates from her own set of beliefs and her beliefs are never really challenged either. In fact every character seemed tropey and flat and none of them grow very much.
The author is a second generation immigrant, and I thought there would be more of her cultural experiences involved. Instead I found stereotypes and plot holes. There are vast amounts of time that just go unaccounted for and some don't even make sense. On page 125, we are told that it is April, then on page 134, we are told they aren't even halfway through second semester; which should be February- so which date is it, Mr. Editor? Also, Julia experiences her quinceanera, and the most we get is Julia complaining about the price, the ugly dress, and having to dance with cousins. We get zero cultural references about the significance of the quinceanera or what the traditions are surrounding it or why any of it is happening. It could have been any kind of party for anyone. My daughter has attended the quinceanera of a friend so I know there are many traditions significant to the culture that occur yet none are mentioned in this book.
Another issue I had is the writing. It is quite juvenile in one sense, not some great work of literature, and I get it, we are viewing the world from the perspective of a teenager, but the language is even younger, almost middle grade. Meanwhile, peppered throughout the entire novel are a variety of obscene words- not just every cuss word imaginable, but also every degrading slang word that can be said in English or in Spanish, so not appropriate for middle grade. There is no real reason for this language. It doesn't advance the plot or provide a basis for the culture, it is just offensive.
I could go on and on about the discrepancies shown in every theme the author broaches (the scenes in the mental health facility are some of the very worst) but it would just take too long. None of them are done well or appropriately. I am not sure what cause Sanchez is trying to champion with this book or what lesson we are supposed to learn; everything is just so disjointed. Maybe she wanted to talk about all these things, but doing it all in one book is not the way to handle it; it is just too much. And these themes are important, and students need to read about them, but just written in a better way.
I am interested to hear the take of my students on this novel at our next Project Lit meeting. Maybe they will have a different perspective.
*Amended to say: We discussed this book in Project Lit, and while my students didn't love it, they could relate to some of the themes, especially the Latinx students. Some themes resonated more than others and we had a great discussion.