The story of a young misfit who wants so much to find her own unique way is often written. Yet, the uniqueness of this book extends to so much more.
Julia Reyes is the daughter of an undocumented mother and father and sister of the deceased Olga. The maturity issues and the desire to escape her mundane lifestyle is deftly explored. This search for more is presented in such a way that YA readers might be able to relate to the angst and despair that is a theme throughout the majority of the book. Some very difficult subjects are addressed, including suicide, so I would recommend this book to young adults and adults. The plight of illegal immigrants is so well described and speaks of a timely subject of today. Ultimately, the positive outweighs the negative. I was left with hope for Julia and that theme ultimately prevails.

“I don’t understand why everyone just complains about who I am.
What am I supposed to do? Say I ‘m sorry?
I’s sorry I can’t be normal? I’m sorry I’m such a bad daughter?
I’m sorry I hate the life that I have to live?” -Julia Reyes

I love a book that makes you sit up straight in your chair with a shocking start. What could be better than an opening paragraph with fifteen-year-old Julia Reyes staring into her dead sister's face. Olga Reyes, the "good daughter", distracted by her cell phone, had stepped off a bus into the path of a semi and died at the tender age of twenty-two.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Julia's parents illegally entered the United States in 1993 fleeing a violent life in Mexico with hopes of a better life. They settled in Chicago and maintained the necessary low-profile. Their Latinx culture and extended family contacts tethered by a phone line back to Mexico. With the birth of her daughters, Amà, strives to do her duty to pass along her culture and family traditions to her girls. Olga proved pliant but Julie fights her hoof and nail.

"Perfect daughters" would be obedient, respect elders, and place needs of the family before needs of the self. They would marry a Latino, raise a family and eschew a life away from their parents and ethnic community. Olga was Amá's pride and joy. But beneath Olga's quiet nature lies a deep secret. Julia breaks into her dead sister's sealed bedroom and discovers something strange. In time she learns her sister's secret and she must decide whether to reveal it to her parents. What good would it do to destroy their lives?

"Here [Olga] was, a grown-ass woman, and all she did was go to work, sit at home with our parents, and take one class each semester at the local community college. What kind of life is that? Didn't she want more? Didn't she ever want to go out and grab the world by the balls?

Julia is the polar opposite of Olga. While Olga spent her days cleaning and cooking, Julia escapes (literally) the house to visit art museums and the library. She dreams of college and a career. Her descriptions of her favorite books and pieces of art work will drive you to Google to find out what she sees for yourself. (She identifies with Edna Pontellier in The Awakening by Kate Chopin.)

She feels she is holding her breath until she can become a writer and move to New York - or anywhere that wasn't Chicago. She and her mother had been at loggerheads forever but after Olga's death, Amá was on Julia's back like white on rice. Amá determined to control Julia's future and Julia determined to be free from her suffocating mother.

"When I tell her I need privacy... she tells me I've become too Americanized. 'You kids here think you can do whatever you want.'"

It is hard to like Julia; she's every parent's nightmare. A teenage girl. She is foul-mouthed, abrasive, outspoken, and angry all the time. She lashes out and confronts everyone about everything. Her favorite "power word" is f***. It is evident that the anger is a defense mechanism to mask her severe depression and anxiety disorder. The softer side of Julia reveals a deeply caring person desperate to be loved and feeling unloved. The book's powerful discussion of depression and Julia's suicidal attempt might be a trigger for those teens experiencing the same feelings. Julia's therapy sessions should offer hope to those same troubled kids.

In and among the cornucopia of stressor topics that derail Julia are strong characters that see beneath her bluster and guide her toward adulthood and peace within herself and among her family. She learns she doesn't need to cast off her culture to achieve her dreams.

"I have so many choices they've never had. And I feel like I can do so much with what I've been given. What a waste their journey would be if I just settled for a dull mediocre life.”

Recommended reading.
Advanced Reading Copy provided by NetGalley.

This is the first book that I have ever read that truly reflected my childhood growing up in a Mexican household. I was constantly brought back to things my mother said and the teenage feelings of not quite fitting in. I would recommend this book for anyone who has ever felt alone and misunderstood.

I received this book for an honest review from netgalley. I enjoyed reading this young adult book. Julia's sister, Olga died suddenly and This tragic event makes her want to find out all she can about her older sister. Julia is the rebellious teenager in her parents eyes, but in Julia's world she just wants to find her place and get to college. She doesn't see herself as rebellious, but as being strangled by her parents. She is not like her sister at all, but does she really know her sister. The more she uncovers the more she needs to know. This book makes the reader understand that there is always more to a person than what you see on the outside. The layers tell the true story. Read this novel to see what Julia finds out about her family and especially what she learns about herself.

This is a beautiful book - the characters and setting are so well-developed that it was easy to picture and relate to. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter was engaging and poignant, and I will definitely be recommending it to adults and teens alike at my library.

I realize this has gotten a lot of good reviews, but it just did not appeal to me. I wish it did.

Loved this book! As a teacher in a high poverty, high minority school this book will speak to students on so many different levels. I love that the main character has such spark and reflects modern family dynamics and the cultural tension young people are feeling. This will be a wonderful book club selection!

Warning: book has a suicide attempt in it, but it goes without description until the final chapter. Even then, it’s only vaguely described.

First off, go read Latinx reviewers’ opinions and reviews of this book, especially if they’re Mexican/Mexican-American like Julia and her family. Boost their voices instead of white voices like mine. I’m reviewing I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter mostly because it’s something that’s right as a reviewer who requested the book, but I also want to say this book is good. There’s a reason it’s made the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature!

White people like me are unlikely to get this book or get much from it either. It’s just a fact because this book is for and about all the Latinx kids chafing in their households and family traditions but still in love their heritage and culture because identity is cimplicated. Some of what Julia lives with because it’s a Mexican thing or just something her mom Amá just does are downright abusive. Even after learning about what Amá went through and why she is the way she is, it’s hard to forgive her for the way she treated Julia. Insulting Julia to her face so many times! Good God!

Julia is an abrasive girl narrating a very character-driven book, so her personality will either make it or break it for readers. She’s also diagnosed with depression later in the book, adding dimension to portrayals of the disease. The mere word makes you think “sadness all the time,” but that isn’t always how you see it. Some people, like Julia, are constantly angry instead. There is no single way depression expresses itself and we can’t forget that. What’s undeniable above all is how well-written Julia is in her fury and familial claustrophobia.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is very pro-medication/therapy for dealing with mental illness too. I swear, I’m going to start a definitive list of books like these for teens because THERAPY AND MEDICATION THAT FIGHTS BACK AGAINST MENTAL ILLNESS IS GOOD. DON’T LET THE STEREOTYPES ABOUT THE TWO STOP YOU.

My one true sticking point comes when Julia insults someone’s hair by saying the woman has an “asexual mom haircut.” I don’t appreciate my sexuality or anyone else’s used as an insult! (Well, except for heteros because it doesn’t hurt anyone, participate in systemic discrimination, or happen all that often, which therefore makes it hilarious. See: white people jokes.)

My best friend is Latina with roots stretching from Mexico to Peru. Her first language was Spanish and she was downgraded from advanced classes in junior high to regular-level classes for the first half of high school because her eighth-grade English teacher didn’t think she spoke well enough to remain in advanced classes despite having excellent grades. Her relationship with her family as of late has also been very complicated.

If she were a fan of prose novels, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is THE book I’d hand to her. Something tells me she’d find a kindred spirit in Julia. I hope its place on the NBA longlist will help get it into the hands of more Latinx teens who need it! If you’re a white person like me, I hope you do your part to get this book to the readers it’s for. If you’re not, I doubt you needed me to tell you this book is worthwhile. You’re smart like that.

Julia Reyes, a smart and smart-assed teen, may be imperfect but the title and tone of her story are pitch-perfect.

Very well written but this title will be a hard sell for most young adult readers. Great to give to those who like a challenge when reading and are interested in reading national book award nominees, but the intense unlikeability of all the characters make this a hard sell to high school students.

Sometimes as an adult, I have difficulty reading YA because the teenage angst tone drives me crazy, but this was not the case with I am not your Perfect Mexican daughter. Julia's words resonated with me. I would recommend to adults or teenagers. There is some cursing and sex but nothing overly graphic.

Well I really liked this book for many, many reasons. The first is Julia, who is a fierce and fascinating protagonist. Her feelings of isolation and persecution from a family who doesn't understand her is heartbreaking and very real, and her frustration and sadness is palpable. This is the kind of first person that works, because Julia is both going through a lot and emoting a lot while still remaining believable. I also quite enjoyed her very opinionated personality, and how she is shown to be both admirable because of it and also a little prickly. Not in a bad way, to be certain, but to show a multi faceted and fully realized character. I found myself really thinking about the culture clash between Julia and her Ama and Apa, and trying to understand that Julia's feelings of frustration (and also mine) didn't mean that her parents were wrong in their beliefs. I think that the book did a really good job of trying to untangle this admittedly difficult terrain about cultures and the differing values between them. I also want to note that I liked that political themes involving immigration and the hardships that undocumented immigrants did make it into this book. Some of the most upsetting and powerful moments had to do with the desperation of immigrants trying to make it across the border, and the dangers that they face to come to a country that still doesn't accept them.

Very powerful stuff.

This book had a lot of different themes and threads, which I wasn’t expecting, but I appreciated the fact that it touched on such a wide range of issues.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is a grief book, as Julia is mourning the sudden death of her older sister.

It’s also a book about family and all the love and frustration that family entails. Julia feels that she’s a disappointment to her parents. She thinks she’s less “perfect” a daughter than Olga was, until she tries to learn more about her sister and discovers that maybe she and Olga had more in common than she thought.

It’s a story about immigration and the struggles of first generation kids. Julia finds her parents old-fashioned and overprotective and thinks they don’t understand her. She doesn’t agree with their definition of the “perfect” girl. Then she learns more about what her parents went through to reach the U.S. As her family is undocumented, Julia also worries about putting her family at risk by applying to college.

It’s also a story that addresses mental health issues, as Julia struggles with depression in addition to all of the above. I’ve seen that some readers found Julia unlikeable. I did not. She’s snarky. She’s angry about a lot of stuff. She’s a teenager. I actually loved her narrative voice.

I recently found out that this book is a YA finalist for the National Book Awards!

xFor a more in-depth review watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujDt...
I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Julia has lived her whole life trying to live up to her parents expectations. Julia has never been the perfect daughter her parent want but her sister Olga was everything their parents could want. When Olga dies and leaves behind a mystery Julia goes on a journey where she learns the truth about herself, her parents and her sister.

There were parts of this book that I thought were truly well done. Sanchez provides a realistic and positive view of life in Mexico which you don't normally see in books. Plus, the journey Julia takes when she begins to see her parents as people and not just parents was incredible well done and felt realistic. However, I never connected with Julia and I didn't really care for the actual course Julia's journey of self discovery took.

This is such a real and honest book that I loved getting to spend time with. As a non-Latinx person there are certain aspects of this book that I can't and won't ever understand and that I believe is part of the point. There are lines written entirely in Spanish that I appreciated as it helped me understand that I can't understand everything. This story was raw and real and nothing felt forced or glossed over and I enjoyed the time I spent with it.

When her perfect older sister Olga is tragically killed, Julia struggles to find her purpose in a world where Mexican daughters are loyal to their families. Julia is a brilliant writer and has the ability to attend a great college, but she will have to get beyond the feelings of guilt she has for leaving Amá and Apá behind, not to mention her mother will not even allow her out of their apartment except to go to school and church. When Julia experiences a huge crisis, she is sent to live with family in Mexico. While she finds more about her family, she also learns about her self. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review. This one is a must read for #Allthefeels

Growing up is difficult and Julia is especially challenged as she struggles with the recent death of her sister. She has a strained relationship with her mother who is critical of Julia and fearful of the many ways that American life is pulling her daughter further and further from her cultural roots in Mexico.

As Julia discovers secrets that indicate her sister is not as perfect as she appeared, she sinks into a deeper depression over her own lack of self esteem and struggle for a bit of independence. Julia grows over time, finding a sense of self worth and learning ways to bridge the gap of communication with her parents.

This is the story of Julia, who is not the perfect Mexican daughter. She is outspoken, and she spends most of her time being grounded. When the book opens, Julia and her family are at the funeral of Julia's older sister Olga. Olga was the perfect Mexican daughter. She was obedient, loving, and enjoyed spending most of her time at home with her family. Olga was hit by semi-truck, so her death was unexpected and surprising.

The book follows the next two years of Julia's life. She is struggling to find her self and figure out what life may look like after high school. She has an inspiring teacher, in her AP English teacher, who helps her develop her love of reading. He leads the class in thorough discussions of literature and Julia loves this. As she struggles with her grief, this is a welcome distraction.

Shortly after the funeral, Julia is struggling to sleep and begins spending nights in her sister's room. Soon she begins finding some strange items that lead to questions about her sister. She begins thinking that her sister may not have been so perfect and was certainly hiding something. Sometime scandalous and possibly dangerous. Over the next two years, Julia attempts to put the pieces together and uncover her sister's secrets.

This book is a great read for adolescent readers. I love that the main character is a POC, and that she is struggling to identify with her family and herself during a challenging time - preparing for college. The book also does a great job of exploring her grief and presenting her with decisions that have big consequences.

I highly encourage this book as an independent read to motivate adolescent readers.