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A review by vibeke_hiatt
Don't Ask Me Where I'm from by Jennifer De Leon
4.0
I received a copy of this book from Simon Teen through Goodreads Giveaways.
Liliana Cruz is an average Latinx teenage girl living what she believes is the average teenage life. And she's fine with that. Sure, her father left suddenly a few weeks ago and she hasn't heard from him since, but it's not the first time. She has her best friend, she has her mother and brothers, and she has her writing.
Then she learns that her parents signed her up for a desegregation program in a suburban school. Reluctantly, she agrees to try. She finds herself thrown into a world where most people are very different from her--physically, socially, and economically. Can she survive at this new school, or will she let it push her out?
This book is a very timely book, exploring issues of race and immigration from a teenagers perspective. How will Liliana react when her "otherness" is so obvious to everyone around her? Liliana is asked to face challenges that her new classmates know nothing about, and none of them even seem interested in understanding.
Writing like a teenage girl, Jennifer de Leon crafted a story that is highly readable. It isn't suspenseful or action-packed, but Liliana is likeable and relatable and I found myself reading nonstop just to see what she would face next and how she would handle it.
Parents should be warned that there are many uses of the f-word.
Liliana Cruz is an average Latinx teenage girl living what she believes is the average teenage life. And she's fine with that. Sure, her father left suddenly a few weeks ago and she hasn't heard from him since, but it's not the first time. She has her best friend, she has her mother and brothers, and she has her writing.
Then she learns that her parents signed her up for a desegregation program in a suburban school. Reluctantly, she agrees to try. She finds herself thrown into a world where most people are very different from her--physically, socially, and economically. Can she survive at this new school, or will she let it push her out?
This book is a very timely book, exploring issues of race and immigration from a teenagers perspective. How will Liliana react when her "otherness" is so obvious to everyone around her? Liliana is asked to face challenges that her new classmates know nothing about, and none of them even seem interested in understanding.
Writing like a teenage girl, Jennifer de Leon crafted a story that is highly readable. It isn't suspenseful or action-packed, but Liliana is likeable and relatable and I found myself reading nonstop just to see what she would face next and how she would handle it.
Parents should be warned that there are many uses of the f-word.