I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

I struggled with this one. Several parts started to feel extreme for the sake of being extreme and not believable to me. I know others will love this but it wasn't one I enjoyed.

I am not sure how to rate this book. I DNF-ed this at 30%. I would not say it was a bad book necessarily but it was definitely not for me. Nothing much happened in the first 30% that intrigued me enough to keep reading.

Absolutely adored the characters and emotional aspect of this book! Representation is so important and this was fantastic

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was an ok read. I wasn't quite hooked on the story.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From by Jennifer De Leon
Rating 3/5 Stars
Disclaimer: Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story follows 15-year-old Liliana Cruz who is a first -generation American LatinX. The story starts out with Liliana transferring to an all while school because she's been accepted into Metco which is a desegregation program. It follows her as she learns more about her identity, family’s history and dealing with racism. As she learns more about her family, she suddenly realizes that there's more to the story that she was told.

What I loved about this story was the different representations it had and the important topics it discussed. I liked that the main character was strong and stood up for herself when he went into tricky situations. What hindered my enjoyment of the story was the main character. I felt like she wasn't linked to any of her roots, which I wish had been explored further.

Overall, I like this book but I wasn’t that invested in the story so I may still read another book from this author in the future.

Tw: Domestic violence, Child Abuse, Racism, Drug Use, Sexism

I loved this story and the cover art!! Definitely gave a positive vibe and was such a fun read. Characters were lovely too

Overall: 3.5ish

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From follows 15 year old Liliana, a First Generation American Latinx, who gets accepted to a school program called METCO for POC to get education in a mainly white neighbourhood called Westburg. She has to leave behind her school in Boston with her best friend Jade and wake up super early to get to her new school. While all of this is going on, she has to deal with that fact that her father has been deported and her mother having a hard time dealing with his absence. Even though she is making new friends at her new school, she faces racism and begins to learn more about her own culture.

I was really excited to read this book, especially since I haven't read too many books where the main character was from Central or South America. I did enjoy the plot overall towards the end but the beginning I found a little slow, and honestly, a little boring in spots. This book talks about really big issues and kind of acts like a time capsule for the current situation in the USA. However, I did find a lot of stuff was glossed over and only mentioned once or twice. I really liked the last maybe 3/4 or so of the book and how Liliana and the other METCO kids talked about the racism in their school (even though the outcome of the assembly was a little unbelievable and unrealistic). The way they talked about combatting racism and encouraging allyship was really important. I really also loved the title and the role it played in the novel

However, there were things I did not like. I wasn't a fan of the romance in the novel, from the beginning of it. It just felt a little unauthentic. I also did not love how the mom's depression was shown, it just did not sit right with me. The writing was ok but it wasn't the best I have read. A lot of the stuff mentioned, like her writing and art, was only just causally mentioned in places and it seemed kind of a secondary aspect even thought it was supposed to be a big part of her character. A lot of the characters were unlikable and I had a hard time finding ones I did like

Overall, I really loved Liliana's character and her passion for her family and her character growth, but the rest of the novel fell a little flat for me. I would still recommend it to a great novel to talk about racism, deportation, and a critique on the American government.

Though I am normally not a big reader of contemporaries I have started picking them up more in my constant effort to diversify my reading. Don't Ask Me Where I'm From originally grabbed my attention from the cover (bc um gorgeous?) and then I remembered an essay I wrote about being asked where your "from from" and the amount of people who didn't realize why that is incredibly insensitive and annoying! So I figured it was time to get the perspective of someone who has had to deal with these things first hand! And good news, I really enjoyed this book. I think it touched on some really important topics in an easy to understand way, without shying away from some of the harsh realities. I also think it was especially amazing how the book focused on asking what you can do to make things better. I did wish we got to hear more about Lilliana's dad! Overall, it was a great read and I will definitely be recommending it to my students!

Liliana is a Latinx high school student in Boston. Her father has disappeared, but he has left before, though not for as long. Lili is accepted to a program called METCO, which is meant to desegregate schools. She starts going to a predominantly white school in a wealthy neighbourhood. The problem with the program is that Lili is still treated as an “other.” The METCO students are separated in social situations from the other students in the school, which further segregates them. Things get out of hand when Lili and the other students face racism from students and teachers. Lili has to figure out a way to fight back and show the world who they are.

This is a painfully honest story. Lili and the other students had to deal with some horrible racist situations from both students and teachers. It was really disturbing to see the teachers also making inappropriate comments. Lili also had a hard time at home because her father was gone. There were undocumented immigrants in her family, and it seemed like a problem that would be impossible to solve.

Even though METCO was a program created to bring students of different backgrounds to the school, it actually segregated the students more. Instead of being part of their whole school, the small group of students stayed together. The point of the program was to give them more opportunities in schooling, yet they were not guaranteed these opportunities even if they worked hard. These kinds of programs may be created with good intentions, but they need to fully integrate the students in the school, rather than separating them in their own group.

This is a must read book! I loved it!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although it took me a while to finish this was a fabulous book and I am excited to read more from the author!

First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz will do whatever it takes to fit in at her new, nearly all-white school. But when family secrets get out and racism at school ramps up, Lili must decide what she believes in and take a stand.
I think the full synopsis for this book gives too much away. I knew what was going to happen in the first 50 pages before I even started reading, but past that point the story did pick up for me and I really enjoyed it!
One issue I had while I was reading was Liliana's age. At some points she read like she was a lot older than 15, but at other points her character read a bit younger. Personally this surprised me as I was expecting an older (16-18 year old) protagonist.
That said, I thought this was a compelling and informative read as we got to learn what it is like living in America through the perspective of a LatinX main character. This book is now out, so if you are looking to grow the representation in your library I would highly recommend this book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

A timely book that draws on current issues and discussions in American politics! There’s a lot of talk about the “wall” that was harped on by current administration at the beginning of their term, but in this case we get to hear from a teen who worries about what that physical barrier and increased border security controls mean for her father who’s been deported and is trying to return to his family.

I really enjoyed getting the story through Liliana’s POV. She has such a unique voice and it was easy to get immersed in her world and feel for her hopes and fears alongside her. As well as regular high school concerns, Liliana is worried about her father and her family, struggling with racism at her new school, and trying to embrace her identity as both American and Latina when others around her want her to embrace only one.

I was dreading a little where the story was going because there’s a lot of casual foreshadowing that something (or everything) is going to fall apart. The eventual downhill is therefore not surprising but disappointing (in the characters/systemic racism, not in the story) all the same but I still felt a lot of hope and excitement for the strategies that Liliana and her friends are coming up with to improve their school and the wider community.

One of my favourite parts is with one of the METCO group’s meetings. There’s discussion around topics like when to use “Spanish” to refer to groups of people and the more inclusive “LatinX” rather than Latino and Latina, and in these discussions it’s emphasized that the kids in this group are learning new things. I thought this was really important because not only are they trying to educate others who are from different cultural groups but they’re also getting to learn about their own identities and cultural history, which hasn’t isn’t been taught or encouraged in school. I really liked that they got to expand their own understandings of who they are through these conversations.

It’s an enjoyable YA with important discussions and a likeable cast of characters, if some of them don’t get much air time. A great debut!

Seriously, I wanted to finish this book before posting a review, but you all know me. I'm a dnf'er when I don't like books. AND SO I thought my review wouldn't be honest if I didn't do what felt right for me. This book just wasn't for me. It has a lot of potential and the writing, especially when she describes Lilianna's passions, was simply beautiful. But I feel like this needs some more work for it to be a book at it's full potential and be has amazing as it deserves to be. It talks about an important topic these days and it will become an important book, I had HUGE The Hate U Give vibes. But I just felt like the transitions were hella weird and stuff happened way way way wayyyyyyyy too fast to be realistic. But as I said, it has a LOT of potential, probably gets better as you continue but I simply couldn't. Sometimes you start a book and after 2 sentences you're like "this just isn't for me", well this book was one of these. And it's okay! As I said, you guys should still check it out, there is a hidden gem in there I believe.

I absolutely loved this YA contemporary because I could really relate to Liliana. As first generation Canadian Latinx, I can relate to a lot of these questions and nuances you go through as a teenager, and even as an adult tbh.

I appreciate that Jennifer De Leon kept us in a grey zone most of the time, because as we all know, people are rarely all good or all bad (expect one who shall not be named and frustrated me to no end). Going through this change with Liliana was hard though. As much as I can relate to her experience, I couldn't bare reading through those horrible experiences her and other METCO students had to go through. They were hard to read, and even harder to accept that it's not the exception for students of colour (in North America anyways). I wish the side characters were even more fleshed out, for example the other METCO students, to have other conversations. That being said, some did show character development, which gave the ending a sense of hope, on top of the main character's character development and how she came out of those experiences.

It has to be said that the writing sometimes felt a bit too teenage-y for me which sometimes made me roll my eyes, but hey, I'm just being an old millennial so I def did not take out any points for that. I did however have mixed feelings with the ending : (view spoiler)

I definitely cannot wait to read what else Jennifer De Leon will write next !

Actual rating is 4.5.

Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, is a YA contemporary novel that follows fifteen-year-old American LatinX teenager Liliana Cruz. Liliana lives in Boston with her parents and younger twin brothers, and goes to the inner-city high school with her best friend Jade. She’s pretty comfortable with her life until a series of events starts to change everything she thought she knew in major ways.

Her best friend Jade is all about her new boyfriend; her father took off again leaving her with a depressed mother and hyper little brothers; and she’s been accepted to a desegregation program called METCO, which will give her the opportunity to attend a suburban high school in a wealthier white neighbourhood.

When Liliana takes the opportunity to attend the better school, she is forced to see how different her life is from her new peers. And unlike her previous school, she is now a minority, and that comes with new struggles, challenges and choices. If that wasn’t already difficult enough, amidst all of this, Liliana finds out that her father didn’t just leave...he was deported.

This debut novel from Jennifer De Leon, while covering important issues and hard topics, was such a joy to read! I really loved Liliana, her voice was so honest, relatable and funny. It was easy to slip into her character and invest in her journey. Her world was fleshed out and her experiences as a minority in high school were very realistic.

Going into this book I wasn’t expecting all the layers that were hidden within it. There were complex and dynamic relationships, instances that highlighted mental health, and commentary on the current political landscape in the U.S. There were also themes of racism, social class, identity, and finding one’s voice expertly woven in amongst these things.

Overall, I thought this book was really great. As someone whose parents are immigrants and experienced going to school as part of the minority group; I related on so many levels to Liliana. This story also opened up a whole new perspective for me when it comes to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and the struggles they face. While I thought the last few chapters of the book were a bit rushed and one element of the story wasn’t as developed as I would have liked it to be; I think Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From is an important, relevant and enjoyable read. I highly recommend checking it out if you are seeking to diversify your TBR and gain a new insightful perspective that will help you look at the world and others differently.

Review for Indigo is listed under username NESLOWE. Review for Amazon is listed under Neshonda.

Jennifer De Leon’s Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From is a fantastic debut novel. From the moment I read the first page, I was hooked. We all know the awkwardness that can stem from a sex-ed class, and that was the exact way in which De Leon introduces her character main character in Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From. In Liliana, we find a relatable protagonist that many readers are likely to connect with. We may have seen or experienced the friend who spends all of their time with their significant other and, in turn, ignores their friends and their feelings in the interim.

Aside from the relatable people throughout the book, where the book shines is in its ability to bring together many essential talking points, including racism, segregation, immigration and deportation. On the surface, this might seem like a lot of topics to be addressed in a singular novel; however, De Leon does an expert job at addressing each one with the utmost care. While one could argue that perhaps a few of the themes could have had more time spent on it, I felt as though this reflected reality. There is always so much going on, and while we want to address everything and fix it all at once, that’s easier said than done.

De Leon perfectly explores just how all the themes found within the pages of the book are ones that impact people of colour, specifically the Latinx community in a myriad of ways. However, I feel that many readers who are the children of immigrants, or who go through daily life as a minority at their school will genuinely relate and connect to De Leon’s novel. This book is an important one for so many readers and many will be able to find a little bit of themselves in Liliana.

With characters and situations that are both relatable and extremely timely, Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From is a book that everyone needs to add to their TBR lists immediately.

In Jennifer De Leon’s debut YA novel, Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, she focuses on the issues that POC teens face daily, and not just in a school setting. It is a coming of age story about Liliana Cruz. She gets accepted into a program that takes her from her current school that is familiar and has her best friend to a wealthy suburban, mostly white school that leads Liliana is grappling with her identity as a first-generation Latinx. When you start, you will not be able to put this down until the last page as Liliana deals with racism, immigration, identity, family, and a myriad of topics tackled in this thought-provoking honest read with diverse characters.

I want to start by stressing that this book should and needs to be read and taught in schools. Without giving too much away, the ending had me crying happy tears.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.

The writing style/narration was definitely something I had to get used to, but after the first chapter or two I flew through this book!

Liliana is in grade 10. Her father is away, which isnt too unusual, but hes not normally away THIS long. And the way her mom has been acting makes her suspect something is seriously wrong. On top of that, she found out she has been accepted into a program that she didn't even apply for at a fancy rich kid school out of town. She agrees to give the school a try. The school is majority white, and she experiences racism from the other kids.

The school is not especially progressive, though they at least react to the racist memes that get shared by the students.

Having the "good, not racist" boyfriend's best friend be very outwardly racist while the boyfriend makes excuses for him is.. very realistic. I'm so glad Liliana stood up for herself and held Dustin accountable for covering for Steve. Although Dustin turned him in, his apology was no where near good enough for them to be "maybe I'll see you around"-ing.

While this was all going down at school, Liliana also had to deal with the secret that her father had been deported to Guatemala and was trying to cross back into the US. This poor girl.

I'm so glad she got her happy ending! I cried!

I'm not going to lie, if I wasn't trying to finish every book I start this year, I think I would have DNF'd Don't Ask Me Where I'm From. Not because of anything intrinsically wrong with it, but because of it's narrator's voice. I'm a big fan of distinctive narrators so I can't really explain what about Lili's voice bothered me at first because it definitely did feel authentic, so just because it wasn't for me doesn't mean it's not for you. I'm so glad I kept reading because this is definitely the type of book that gets better as you go. Lili, her world, and her narrative voice all become richer and more developed as the story goes on. By the end I was completely hooked.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From takes an important look into immigration (both legal and otherwise), self identity, financial discrimination, racism (both intentional and unintentional) and speaking up. Literally all my negatives (minus an underdeveloped love interest but Lili's 15 so I'm not too bothered that he didn't get a big personality. Sometimes 15 year olds just want to date a guy so they can be dating a guy) transitioned into positives as the stories progressed. I'd definitely recommend this despite my initial hesitations.