Lexile = 730
When Julia's sister, Olga, dies in a tragic accident, the family mourns in different ways. Olga was the "good" girl of the family. She stayed home... she cooked... she cleaned.... and her loss is devastating. Julia is a bit of a brat and does NOT want to step into the obedient role that Olga held.
This book has been reviewed by an English professor based in in Chicago, the setting of Perfect Mexican Daughter. David Schaafsma writes, "Julia has some good experiences, in spite of her trauma and self-imposed alienation. She reads. She writes. She has one good friend, then two, and she (secretly-- amá would kill her if she knew) dates an Evanston white (and much wealthier) boy she meets in a used bookstore. So this is YA, it’s a coming-of-age story, and this is all part of the process of Julia growing up and becoming herself. However, before things get better, they get way complicated, and (much) worse; it’s not until after things hit the nadir and she is sent to Mexico to visit family for a time, that we finally see some real growth. In Mexico, she rediscovers her family, her culture, herself:
'As much as I get sick of eating Mexican food every single day of my life, if heaven existed, I know it would smell like fried tortillas.'"
Watch a student produced book trailer HERE.
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