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

Julia is a first generation, Mexican-American teen girl living in, Chicago. Her older, "perfect" sister is dead. Her relationship with her parents is strained at best. She will never live up to the expectations her mother has set for  her, she will never be Olga. Her father ignores her. Her parents are hardworking, strict and want, Julia to be a different version of who she really is.

Julia has realistic relationships with her friends, teachers and family. She is angry, brash and emotional all very common and understanding emotions from someone so young who is going through a tough time, later in the book her character undergoes an event that makes you understand her character at a deeper level and her character undergoes a change.

Julia  uncovers a secret(s) that her sister, Olga had and as they unravel, she realizes that, Olga isn't this perfect version, that she is very much human and she yearns for a different relationship with her sister. Wishing they had known one another better, been closer ....

This book is raw, gripping and grief fueled. There is, Spanish thrown in and it was very natural for me, as I often forgot I was reading passages in español. 

I am a first generation, Mexican-American and I connected with, Julia on so many levels. There are so many expectations and weight put on the shoulders of the generation of 1st born, Americans. We have to navigate both worlds, that of our parents and family and that of our own. We have to learn how to fit into both worlds and we often find ourselves slipping through the cracks. The struggles is real.

We are judged, we struggle, we overcome but we lose a bit of ourselves along the way. We are embarrassed and learn pride later on, our voice is seldom heard but yet we persevere. We are,  American and we are Americans. Julia is all of these things and more.