I enjoyed reading this novel about a first generation teenage girl whose parents are from Central America trying to navigate between two worlds--her school world, which is in a rich white suburb and her home world, which is in Jamaica Plain, Boston a more diverse area where there are plenty of people like her.

Liliana Cruz doesn't fit in to her new school very well at first, but she knows her parents have sacrificed a lot to have her grow up with these kinds of opportunities. In this way, she has problems that any other teenager has: boys, friends, grades. But she also has worries at home, worries that only arise from belonging to an immigrant family.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From raises a lot of interesting issues, all woven together through the eyes of one young girl. It's never preachy, but it does delve deeply into many real-world situations are country is going through right now when it comes to questions of undocumented immigrants. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read an authentic story about first generation teenagers and their undocumented parents.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From is a coming of age story that follows a teen girl as she navigates a new school and relationships and is confronted by racism and microaggressions. I liked having the POV from a Central American character, because I don't think we see that enough, and I appreciated how the author delved into the many issues facing the Latinx community.

Although I enoyed it, the writing style was very casual "teen" speak that I didn't always like and I was dissatisfied with the way this book handled Lili's dad's deportation. I feel like the nuances of certain issues were glossed over and I find it crazy how she announced that he was deported in front of her entire school, and when he sneaks back into the US the book never goes into how he deals with the consequences or how he is able to live without being caught. Nevertheless, I like how this book is able to spark important conversations, even if I wasn't one hundred percent on board with the execution.

Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon is a book about a first generation Latinx, Liliana Cruz, who is given this incredible opportunity to go to a METCO program and a great school in the suburbs of Boston. The school that she is going to is night and day different from the school that she is coming from, and she suddenly finds herself to be the minority in a mostly white school.
The story follows Liliana as adjusts to her new school and attempts to make friends in the unfamiliar surroundings. Even the other kids that are being bused in from Boston are shunning her and she is struggling to find her place. Slowly, she makes a friend, Holly, and she starts to date Dustin.
At home, Liliana is struggling with a mother that is slowly slipping further into depression and a father who has inexplicably disappeared. Come to find out her father was deported and Liliana learns that both of her parents are undocumented. What does this mean for her family? Will her father ever make it back from Guatemala? Will her mother be taken away too? Will she be responsible for her little brothers.
Liliana has to deal with so many things that a teenager should never have to face, but is unfortunately all to common in our world today.
This story definitely tackles some very important issues, such as segregation, racism, deportation and depression. This book would be a great tool in the hands of a skilled English teacher.
The Author does a great job of following Liliana as she finds her voice and begins to stand up for herself and the other kids that are in her program with her.
The book is written as a stream of conscious and feels like Liliana is telling a close friend what was happening in her life. I liked that. It made the experience throughout the book feel more personal and made you upset when she was upset and happy when she was happy
I’m giving it 3 stars cause the book was probably a little to young for me. It used the phrase “Hello” and ‘Whaa” to the point that it would stop the flow of my reading and got on my nerves over time, (like I said probably to young for me.). Also, it felt like the ending might of been a bit rushed. Suddenly, in the last 50 pages, Liliana finds her voice and stands up for herself. She realizes in a tiny blurb that she shouldn’t judge either. It doesn’t feel like there was a lot of character growth throughout the book, just suddenly everything is in a neat little bow. I would’ve liked to see that there was some character growth on all sides.

What is it like to be one of the few black students at a white, upper class suburban school? Boston has a program, METCO, that takes black students from the city and buses them to the suburbs - places like Wellesley, Concord and Braintree, with means and able to provide better facilities and challenges than underfunded city schools. Liliana lives in Jamaica Plain (JP to white people) and is smart, a writer, and dealing with her father being away from home longer than usual. Then she gets into the METCO program (her father signed her up) and starts attending school in a fictitious suburb of Boston.

Lili has to deal with being separated from her friends and a comfortable environment and figuring out how to fit in with a new community. Sometimes that goes well, sometimes not so much. Watching her negotiate the different systems, making new friends and maintaining her old life, is fascinating. The title comes from the ending, where she and the other BIPOC students host an assembly of things they don't want to be asked and what bothers them about their interactions with their schoolmates.

A must read for those looking for a window or mirror into this world.

eARC provided by publisher.

American-born Lilliana and her twin brothers live in Boston with their Salvadoran Mother and Guatemalan Father. Her father has been mysteriously missing for the past two weeks. Her mother is too upset to talk about it. Lilliana has been accepted to METCO, a program to put good students in low-performing schools into high-achieving suburban schools. She reluctantly accepts the offer, leaving everyone she’s known behind. Struggling to fit in with her new classmates, she meets Dustin, a boy she has a crush on. Can Lilliana figure out how to fit in at her new school? Will things go further with Dustin? Mixed with Latino pop culture reference and Spanish Words, the author does a great job of bringing to life Lilliana’s world and her struggles to balance two different worlds. The plot is realistic and easy to step into. The characters are likable and well-portrayed. Readers who enjoy realistic fiction, stories about fitting in, and family will enjoy reading this book.

I really loved this book. Liliana is a normal kid, although as the story unfolds, we learn that her life is more complicated than we initially thought. Attending a new school, learning after her father is deported that her parents are undocumented, her mother's depression, her best friend's distraction, her own struggles to find her place in a different world than what she's used to.

I love that the story doesn't make everything neat and easy, but that we absolutely see Liliana's growth throughout the story, as well as those around her. Highly recommended, particularly for those who haven't considered what life is like for families with undocumented members in the US.

When Liliana discovers that her mother has put Lili's name in for to a desegregation program, she's surprised. When she's selected to study at a new school in Boston, a predominately white school where she doesn't feel like she fits in at all, she's not that happy at all, but decides to give it a try. She bonds with other kids in her program and struggles to cope with her father's sudden absence and her mom's depression.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From has a main character whose narrative voice and desire to fit in will ring true to teen and tween readers. The story addresses issues like immigration, mental health, racism and classism, and school segregation (an issue with which Boston has a long and complicated history) in ways that will also resonate with young readers.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital arc of this book, which I loved. Liliana, her struggles, her growth, and her triumphs will stay with me for a long time. The portrayal of a family whose father has been deported and whose mother wrestles with depression was timely and honest. I will definitely recommend this to teen readers.

NetGalley ARC | I had high expectations for Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon. Lacking quality writing, I appreciate the important and essential topics covered here, including racism and immigration. This is one of those August 2020 book releases that had so much potential that just fell flat in storytelling ability.

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is such an important book for all people to read. If you are looking for diverse contemporary novels you should definitely pick this one up!

Very timely. I think that this is an important book and reminded me of stories like the Hate You Give. Definitely something that I can use in the classroom and I would recommend my students going forward

I loved this debut YA novel that is so timely for our world today. It speaks to segregation, immigration, and deportation, along with all the other stuff that goes along with being a teen. The narrative told by Liliana, a young LatinX, is fast-paced and rings true all the way through the story. I will await De Leon's next book with much anticipation. Highly recommend for both teens & adults.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the digital ARC of this book. This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Lilian Cruz has a lot on her plate. She has been accepted into the METCO program and is trying to navigate the upper-middle class white school that she is being bused. The METCO kids aren't all that welcoming and neither are the other students. Just as she starts to settle in making friends with Holly her METCO host sister and a love interest, Dustin, racial tensions flare. Rayshawn has been named the new center on the basketball team as the head to state replacing the previous (white) center. A meme is created and shared on social media of Rayshawn in a noose made out of a basketball net. Then when Liliana expresses her opinion in class a meme is create of her as a pinata with the words "wetback".

At home her dad has gone missing and her mom is losing her mind with worry. When Lili's aunt and uncle arrive from Guatemala she learns that her dad has been deported. He is trying to make it back using a coyote.

This book is hip, up-to-date on current immigration issues and, most importantly, engaging. It is written in stream of consciousness putting the reader right in Liliana's thinking. I did not want this book to end and can already envision some possibilities for a sequel. I hope there is one.

If you enjoyed The Hate You Give and/or The Distance Between then add this one to your reading list.

This was a book that I read at the correct time. I have had this book sitting on my shelf for months and just picked it up and it was what my heart needed.

The writing was great and felt authentic from a teenagers voice. And it was fantastic to get this perspective from a Latinx lens. The overall message of the book is one of hope and how can we come to understand each other from all different cultures in this age of heightened racial tension and social media, and can teach us all how to be better allies.

Highly recommend for everyone for a great discussion!

Though nothing at home is as it should be, fine is the one word that describes 15 year old Liliana. After her father takes off (again), her family is barely holding things together. Her mom seems to be living in a fog (if you can even call it that), and her younger brothers are hard to reign in and keep calm. Even her best friend is too distracted by a boyfriend to be an ear to listen. Unbeknownst to Liliana, before he left her father signed her up for METCO, a scholarship opportunity of sorts for city kids to attend "better" schools in the suburbs. Liliana (half Guatemalan, half Salvadorian) fit right in at her richly diverse school in Boston. Not only is her new school unbelievably white, Westburg is an hour bus ride away. Liliana gives it a chance, though, because it was her father's dream. To fit in at Westburg, Liliana becomes Lili, but when she discovers some secrets about her father's citizenship, she is even more torn between her two very different worlds. 

THOUGHTS: This book will find a home with anyone who is sick of the "Where are you from?" or "What are you?" questions. Liliana's story will personalize the more generalized immigration news stories for teens and will open their eyes to the struggles of undocumented citizens and the reasons so many flee to America for better opportunities. This is a must have for high school libraries looking to diversity their collections with contemporary issues.

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. I will definitely be buying multiple copies of this for my classroom library. This is such an amazing story - a window book for our white students and a mirror book for our Black and Latinx students.

From Goodreads description: First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand.

I LOVED this book. It took me a while to get into, but once I was in, I WAS IN. I loved Liliana's transformation throughout the book. When she first transferred, she worked hard to be lowkey and under the radar, but as she started to see what was going on and became victim to some of the racist ideals within the student body, she found her voice and stood up for herself and others in her situations. The discussions on immigration, both at school and in her household as they handled her father's situation, were accessible and would lead to great conversations in the classroom. I also loved how the author did not cause a huge conflict between Liliana and her best friend that still attends her old school - instead, she helped her and even started hanging out with the new crowd. The situationship between Liliana and new-school boy Dustin was whatever. I didn't like him very much. But otherwise - highly recommend! I cannot wait for this book to be released to share with students and fellow teachers.

This is a coming of age story about our main character Liliana, whose mother is from El Salvador and father is from Guatemala. Liliana is an awesome, likable character who you immediately root for. We follow her as she changes schools, deals with racism and the looming fear of having parents that are undocumented. She is also navigating the world of teen romance, and just learning about herself and her world as she grows, and her eyes open to who she really wants to be.

I think this is a wonderful book that everyone should read, especially in the world we are living in now. It would be a great book for discussion, and thought provoking questions.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Lilliana is the child of undocumented immigrants but doesn't quite know her family's story. This is a coming of age story that our world NEEDS right now. It's a multifaceted YA novel looking at systemic racism, white fragility and class differences. This is a much needed distinctive voice in YA.

This book should be a classroom read! A book group book! It begs to be read and discussed. We need more books like this one!