We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia 

New York, NY : Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of Harpercollins Publishers, [2019]

363 p. ; 22 cm.      

To say that Mejia's debut YA novel has gotten good reviews would be an understatement. Booklist gave it a starred review, it snagged an excellent write up on NPR, and other less notable reviews also highly recommended it. 

I think the praise is well deserved for the premise and set-up of the book; the patriarchal world it creates has it's own origin religion story which underlies it's elite family set-up where husbands have two wives: a Primera who is hard-core business, brains, and no-nonsense, and a Segunda who must be gorgeous, entertaining, and ready to bear children.  The elite - a minority in this fictional world - rely on the exploitation of everyone else, an exploitation enforced by police, violence and legal privilege.  Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Which is exactly what makes it a powerful novel.  I also liked the main characters and the first part of the book's world building.  

My only issues with the book are with the plotting of the resistance and with the rushed descriptions of the rebellion.  I just never believed the main character's acts of joining the rebellion. And the major conflicts of violence seemed a bit rushed and confused to me.  

That being said, it's still an enjoyable read and one that should appeal to a lot of different readers.  It's also got an unexpected lesbian romance simmering away at the center which - though rushed to me - is sweet and unexpected.  

Finally the book is written by a Latinx woman and is touches on issues of xenophobia, border violence, resistance, dangers of patriarchy and economic exploitation - so it is very relevant to the times we are experiencing now in the US. Would I recommend it. You bet.

Perfectly Not Perfect

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
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



     

All Sweet & No Bite

The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales
New York : Wendy Lamb, c2005.
1st trade pbk. ed. 
199 p. ; 21 cm.

I mentioned to a teacher that I was reading Canales' The Tequila Worm, and she asked me what I thought of it.  "Well...," I hesitated, "...the writing is good, but there's just no edge to it; it reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting - wonderfully crafted, interesting, but overly sentimental..." And as I finished the novel, I  kept thinking how I would have enjoyed it so much more if there were even just a a touch of cynicism, a hint of real irreverence, or a bit of critical detachment.  Instead the entire novel is an homage to a squeaky clean idealization of barrio life in McAllen, TX - in the 70s(?).

My criticism aside, the writing is quick and observant, and the values portrayed in the story of quite admirable - family loyalty, the bonds of friendship, importance of cultural identity and rituals, respect for difference, and the value of education.

My favorite part of the novel was the final third of the narrative, when the main character, Sofia - leaves home to attend an elite college-prep boarding school on a full scholarship. At the school, Sofia has to deal with homesickness and class/race discrimination from some of her classmates, and the conflicts she feels between her ambitions to move up in the world versus her sadness at leaving behind the small community of her barrio.

The novel would be an excellent middle school pick for classroom use, but I'm not sure how well it would go over with senior high school students.