Erika L. Sánchez

National Book Award Finalist! Instant New York Times Bestseller! The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian meets Jane the Virgin in this poignant but often laugh-out-loud funny contemporary YA about losing a sister and finding yourself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican-American home. Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed. But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal? “Alive and crackling—a gritty tale wrapped in a page-turner. ”—The New York Times “Unique and fresh.” —Entertainment Weekly “A standout.” —NPR

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

An award-winning and hard-hitting new voice in contemporary American poetry The first time I ever came the light was weak and carnivorous. I covered my eyes and the night cleared its dumb throat. I heard my mother wringing her hands the next morning. Of course I put my underwear on backwards, of course the elastic didn't work. What I wanted most at that moment was a sandwich. But I just nursed on this leather whip. I just splattered my sheets with my sadness. —from “Poem of My Humiliations” “What is life but a cross / over rotten water?” Poet, novelist, and essayist Erika L. Sánchez’s powerful debut poetry collection explores what it means to live on both sides of the border—the border between countries, languages, despair and possibility, and the living and the dead. Sánchez tells her own story as the daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants and as part of a family steeped in faith, work, grief, and expectations. The poems confront sex, shame, race, and an America roiling with xenophobia, violence, and laws of suspicion and suppression. With candor and urgency, and with the unblinking eyes of a journalist, Sánchez roves from the individual life into the lives of sex workers, narco-traffickers, factory laborers, artists, and lovers. What emerges is a powerful, multifaceted portrait of survival. Lessons on Expulsion is the first book by a vibrant, essential new writer now breaking into the national literary landscape.

Poems

Lessons on Expulsion

Finalista del National Book Award! Bestseller del New York Times! Julia no es la hija mexicana perfecta. Ese era el rol de su hermana Olga. Olga no fue a la universidad, se quedó en casa para cuidar a sus padres, limpiar la casa y trabajar a medio tiempo. Julia tiene grandes sueños y no quiere formar parte del camino de su hermana mayor. Pero un solo error, que ocurre mientras enviaba un mensaje de texto al mismo tiempo que cruzaba la calle más concurrida de Chicago, resulta en la muerte de Olga, dejando atrás a Julia para ocuparse de las secuelas. Sus padres, quienes inmigraron ilegalmente a Chicago desde México en busca de una vida mejor, están inconsolables. La madre de Julia parece canalizar su dolor para señalar de todas las maneras posibles que Julia no es la hija mexicana perfecta que Olga era. Pero Julia pronto descubre que Olga puede haber tenido secretos, también. Con la ayuda de su mejor amiga Lorena, Julia está decidida a descubrirlo. ¿Era Olga realmentelo que parecía? ¿O había algo más en la historia de su hermana? Y de cualquier manera, ¿cómo puede Julia incluso intentar vivir a la altura de un ideal aparentemente imposible?

Yo no soy tu perfecta hija mexicana

Im not your perfect Mexican daughter

From the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, an utterly original memoir-in-essays that is as deeply moving as it is hilarious Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Chicago in the nineties, Erika Sánchez was a self-described pariah, misfit, and disappointment—a foul-mouthed, melancholic rabble-rouser who painted her nails black but also loved comedy, often laughing so hard with her friends that she had to leave her school classroom. Twenty-five years later, she’s now an award-winning novelist, poet, and essayist, but she’s still got an irrepressible laugh, an acerbic wit, and singular powers of perception about the world around her. In these essays, Sánchez writes about everything from sex to white feminism to debilitating depression, revealing an interior life rich with ideas, self-awareness, and perception. Raunchy, insightful, unapologetic, and brutally honest, Crying in the Bathroom is Sánchez at her best—a book that will make you feel that post-confessional high that comes from talking for hours with your best friend.

A Memoir

Crying in the Bathroom

“Equal parts pee-your-pants hilarity and break your heart poignancy- like the perfect brunch date you never want to end!"--America Ferrera, Emmy award-winning actress in Ugly Betty From the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, an utterly original memoir-in-essays that is as deeply moving as it is hilarious Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Chicago in the nineties, Erika Sánchez was a self-described pariah, misfit, and disappointment—a foul-mouthed, melancholic rabble-rouser who painted her nails black but also loved comedy, often laughing so hard with her friends that she had to leave her school classroom. Twenty-five years later, she’s now an award-winning novelist, poet, and essayist, but she’s still got an irrepressible laugh, an acerbic wit, and singular powers of perception about the world around her. In these essays, Sánchez writes about everything from sex to white feminism to debilitating depression, revealing an interior life rich with ideas, self-awareness, and perception. Raunchy, insightful, unapologetic, and brutally honest, Crying in the Bathroom is Sánchez at her best—a book that will make you feel that post-confessional high that comes from talking for hours with your best friend.

"La hija perfecta no se va a estudiar lejos de su ciudad. Ni siquiera debe pensar en dejar la casa de sus padres si no se ha casado. Debe ayudar a su madre y aprender a cocinar. Julia es justamente la hija que sus padres no soñaron. Olga sí lo fue, pero ya no está. Un accidente acabó con la vida de su hermana mayor y ahora Julia tiene que reacomodar los pedazos que quedan de su familia. Todos están tan ocupados con su duelo que nadie se da cuenta de que ella está completamente rota. El dolor incrementa cuando su madre parece encontrar consuelo señalándole todo lo que ha hecho mal y cómo nunca logrará ser tan perfecta como Olga. Un inesperado suceso hará sospechar a Julia que su hermana no era lo que todos imaginaban y, con la ayuda de su mejor amiga y de su novio, intentará descifrar los misterios que rodeaban su vida. Mientras otros secretos de Olga se revelan, Julia comprueba que para ser feliz no necesita ser quien todos esperan que sea, sino permanecer fiel a sí misma para convertirse en su mejor versión." -- page [4] of cover.

La hija que no soñaste

When the sister who delighted their parents by her faithful embrace of Mexican culture dies in a tragic accident, Julia, who longs to go to college and move into a home of her own, discovers from mutual friends that her sister may not have been as perfect as believed.

Random Minis: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Finalista do National Book Award, uma história sensível sobre uma garota que, em meio ao luto, enfrenta as expectativas da família mexicana-americana para realizar seus sonhos A filha mexicana perfeita não faz faculdade longe de casa. A filha mexicana perfeita não questiona nem evita os parentes. E, acima de tudo, nunca abandona a família. Mas Julia Reyes não é essa garota. Na verdade, tudo que ela quer é se formar no ensino médio, ir estudar em Nova York e viajar o mundo quando se tornar uma escritora de sucesso. Julia deixa o papel de filha exemplar para Olga, sua irmã mais velha. Até que um trágico acidente muda tudo. Olga agora está morta, e Julia se vê sozinha em meio aos cacos de sua família. O pai parece mais distante do que nunca. E o relacionamento com a mãe fica estremecido a cada insistente comparação com a irmã falecida. Só que ninguém percebe quanto ela também está dilacerada. Em busca de qualquer pequena lembrança de Olga, a jovem começa a desconfiar que talvez ela não fosse tão perfeita quanto todos imaginavam. Conforme as peças desse quebra-cabeça se encaixam, Julia percebe que conhecer melhor a irmã também é uma forma de conhecer a si mesma. Mas como ela pode continuar vivendo à sombra de um fantasma? Uma narrativa ágil, tocante e inesquecível, Não sou a filha perfeita conta a pungente história de uma família imigrante nos Estados Unidos e suas dores, que continuam a latejar em suas profundas cicatrizes. A obra em breve ganhará uma produção audiovisual dirigida por America Ferrera, desenvolvida pelo estúdio Orion Pictures, da Amazon MGM Studios.

Não sou a filha perfeita

De la autora de Yo no soy tu perfecta hija mexicana, bestseller del New York Times, nos llega una autobiografía en ensayos sumamente original, tan conmovedora como hilarante.

Llorando en el baño: Memorias / Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir

When her sister, considered the perfect Mexican daughter by her parents, dies, Julia tries to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family despite her own grief and her mother's penchant for pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

Erika L. Sánchez

About

Books

Join the club