New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2017]
344 p. ; 22 cm.
I added this book to the library this school year after seeing it highly recommended in a review, and then seeing that it was a finalist for The National Book Award, I figured I had to read it. I am very glad that I did.
This book was great. I was afraid that it would be a bit of a sentimentalizing or romanticizing look at a Mexican American family, but instead it was a book about the complex and difficult pains of loving and hating your family, of feeling trapped, of being poor, and of not fitting in. It's not only a family drama, but is also a mystery of a death and unraveling the secret life of someone you think you know (or maybe I should say unraveling the secret lives of several people you think you know). At its heart it's a thoughtful book about love. It is a very tender book, but unlike Canales' The Tequila Worm, it has a lot of edge to it.
The book follows the main character, high-schooler Julia, as she tries to grapple with several challenges: who really was her older, "perfect," recently deceased sister, how can she escape the limits of family and neighborhood to become the writer and intellectual she hopes to be, and how can she deal with the oppressive love of her grief stricken and overly strict parents? Julia's trials over the course of the novel are interesting, sometimes surprising, often funny and worth the read. Will I recommend this book? Absolutely
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