NetGalley ARC | I had high expectations for Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon. Lacking quality writing, I appreciate the important and essential topics covered here, including racism and immigration. This is one of those August 2020 book releases that had so much potential that just fell flat in storytelling ability.

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is such an important book for all people to read. If you are looking for diverse contemporary novels you should definitely pick this one up!

Very timely. I think that this is an important book and reminded me of stories like the Hate You Give. Definitely something that I can use in the classroom and I would recommend my students going forward

I loved this debut YA novel that is so timely for our world today. It speaks to segregation, immigration, and deportation, along with all the other stuff that goes along with being a teen. The narrative told by Liliana, a young LatinX, is fast-paced  and rings true all the way through the story. I will await De Leon's next book with much anticipation. Highly recommend for both teens & adults.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the digital ARC of this book. This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Lilian Cruz has a lot on her plate.  She has been accepted into the METCO program and is trying to navigate the upper-middle class white school that she is being bused.  The METCO kids aren't all that welcoming and neither are the other students.  Just as she starts to settle in making friends with Holly her METCO host sister and a love interest, Dustin, racial tensions flare.  Rayshawn has been named the new center on the basketball team as the head to state replacing the previous (white) center.  A meme is created and shared on social media of Rayshawn in a noose made out of a basketball net.  Then when Liliana expresses her opinion in class a meme is create of her as a pinata with the words "wetback".

At home her dad has gone missing and her mom is losing her mind with worry.  When Lili's aunt and uncle arrive from Guatemala she learns that her dad has been deported.  He is trying to make it back using a coyote.

This book is hip, up-to-date on current immigration issues and, most importantly, engaging.  It is written in stream of consciousness putting the reader right in Liliana's thinking.  I did not want this book to end and can already envision some possibilities for a sequel.  I hope there is one.

If you enjoyed The Hate You Give and/or The Distance Between then add this one to your reading list.

This was a book that I read at the correct time.  I have had this book sitting on my shelf for months and just picked it up and it was what my heart needed.  

The writing was great and felt authentic from a teenagers voice.  And it was fantastic to get this perspective from a Latinx lens.  The overall message of the book is one of hope and how can we come to understand each other from all different cultures in this age of heightened racial tension and social media, and can teach us all how to be better allies.  

Highly recommend for everyone for a great discussion!

Though nothing at home is as it should be, fine is the one word that describes 15 year old Liliana. After her father takes off (again), her family is barely holding things together. Her mom seems to be living in a fog (if you can even call it that), and her younger brothers are hard to reign in and keep calm. Even her best friend is too distracted by a boyfriend to be an ear to listen. Unbeknownst to Liliana, before he left her father signed her up for METCO, a scholarship opportunity of sorts for city kids to attend "better" schools in the suburbs. Liliana (half Guatemalan, half Salvadorian) fit right in at her richly diverse school in Boston. Not only is her new school unbelievably white, Westburg is an hour bus ride away. Liliana gives it a chance, though, because it was her father's dream. To fit in at Westburg, Liliana becomes Lili, but when she discovers some secrets about her father's citizenship, she is even more torn between her two very different worlds. 

THOUGHTS: This book will find a home with anyone who is sick of the "Where are you from?" or "What are you?" questions. Liliana's story will personalize the more generalized immigration news stories for teens and will open their eyes to the struggles of undocumented citizens and the reasons so many flee to America for better opportunities. This is a must have for high school libraries looking to diversity their collections with contemporary issues.

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. I will definitely be buying multiple copies of this for my classroom library. This is such an amazing story - a window book for our white students and a mirror book for our Black and Latinx students.

From Goodreads description: First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand.

I LOVED this book. It took me a while to get into, but once I was in, I WAS IN. I loved Liliana's transformation throughout the book. When she first transferred, she worked hard to be lowkey and under the radar, but as she started to see what was going on and became victim to some of the racist ideals within the student body, she found her voice and stood up for herself and others in her situations. The discussions on immigration, both at school and in her household as they handled her father's situation, were accessible and would lead to great conversations in the classroom. I also loved how the author did not cause a huge conflict between Liliana and her best friend that still attends her old school - instead, she helped her and even started hanging out with the new crowd. The situationship between Liliana and new-school boy Dustin was whatever. I didn't like him very much. But otherwise - highly recommend! I cannot wait for this book to be released to share with students and fellow teachers.

This is a coming of age story about our main character Liliana, whose mother is from El Salvador and father is from Guatemala. Liliana is an awesome, likable character who you immediately root for. We follow her as she changes schools, deals with racism and the looming fear of having parents that are undocumented. She is also navigating the world of teen romance, and just learning about herself and her world as she grows, and her eyes open to who she really wants to be. 

I think this is a wonderful book that everyone should read, especially in the world we are living in now. It would be a great book for discussion, and thought provoking questions. 

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Lilliana is the child of undocumented immigrants but doesn't quite know her family's story. This is a coming of age story that our world NEEDS right now. It's a multifaceted YA novel looking at systemic racism, white fragility and class differences. This is a much needed distinctive voice in YA.

This book should be a classroom read!  A book group book!  It begs to be read and discussed.  We need more books like this one!

This is a very relatable book. The story is an important one that includes empathy, immigration, striving to better oneself, and the list could go on. It should be on classroom lists and would be a great spark for discussion among teens.

I don't feel comfortable critiquing / reviewing the validity of the experience relayed in this book. However, as a reader, I appreciated many of the issues that Jennifer De Leon addressed: the Latinx experience, the immigrant experience, and what could be argued is a modern day "busing" program, in addition to the universal issues of learning hard truths, finding one's place and voice, changing friendships, and balancing all the various facets of life. I would recommend this to any one who enjoys contemporary YA as well as readers of #OwnVoices and #WeNeedDiverseBooks titles.

This was a good and relevant story. It really felt like growing up. The author did a good job at showing a point in time when you start to really see the world around you; when you transition from a kid who doesn't really see and understand things happening to growing up and having your whole perspective changed. The emotions and fear it creates. It was also felt like a real story of fear and immigration, but also hope and love and family. One of the major things that bothered me about this book was sometimes the slang was a little much. I understood the purpose of it was to really get Lili's voice across and to make it more real, I just think it could have been slightly less without impacting the feeling or the story dramatically. But I am not a teen so maybe teens would feel differently.

I liked this one and will add it to my classroom library. There were a few bits that didn't strike me as realistic, but I recognize that it's entirely possible that they ARE realistic and that I just don't see those things through my personal lens. Regardless, I enjoyed it and am hoping it will be selected as part of the 2020-2021 Project LIT reading list.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From - a six word biography by the book's protagonist Liliana. This book is relevant, engaging and compelling. It addresses important issues like education, immigration, white privilege, identity and more with well developed characters and engaging dialogue. An important and timely story that will keep you thinking.

It took me several tries to get started on this book, but once I finished it, I was glad to have read it. I didn't love it, but I did like it enough to enjoy the story. The main character's evolution in the story was a great message. I did feel like the assembly scene was a bit far-fetched, and I work in a high school. I can't imagine that actually playing out and continuing on for as long as it does, but maybe it could at other schools. Overall, I think it's a read students would enjoy.

Five stars 

_Don't Ask Me Where I'm From_ features Liliana, who is an extremely likable main character, and her journey through changing schools and learning more about her parents, her society, and finally herself. Liliana has a clear and authentic voice; it's easy to feel like you know her and what and how she thinks from the start. As a result, it's very easy to be on her team, especially as she faces a great deal of adversity at school and at home. 

I love that there's a realistic portrayal of race and socioeconomic relations here. Too often, characters in all genres and for all audiences seem to come to quick resolutions over difficult issues or to throw up their hands and give up, agreeing to disagree. The exploration of these concepts is layered and is neither depressing nor overly hopeful. There are specific strategies here for how to have challenging conversations. Some go well, and others don't, and I appreciate that the characters have opportunities to learn and grow but also to cut ties when folks turn out to just be trash. These lessons are all important for young adults (and frankly all of us) to hear. 

As an added and only tangentially related note, I want to include that I had the opportunity to see this author speak on a YALLWest panel yesterday, when I had only about 10% of this arc left to finish. I love this novel on its own, but it gives me extra confidence to know that it came from a writer who is engaging - positively - in these larger discussions in other formats, too. I just kept thinking, "Your novel is great, Jennifer De Leon, and you seem awesome!" the whole time: a nice added bonus to have a fabulous seeming author for a terrific book. 

I'll absolutely be recommending this book to students and very likely teaching it in my college-level Children's Literature courses in the future. Jason Reynolds talks about books as (not just windows and mirrors but also) time capsules, and for me, _Don't Ask Me Where I'm From_ clearly reflects that motif in this moment. I cannot wait for more from this author!

I loved this book and couldn't stop highlighting and underlining. The characters are real, (and I can confirm this based on my years working with high school students ) and the issues that are addressed around the realities of immigration as it affects a family are also totally true. Moreover, the focus on METCO (busing program) are true-to-life, and I say this based on my experience studying METCO students and teachers for my doctoral dissertation. I think that this book is an essential read for students, teachers, and book groups. It is one of the best YA books that I have read that contextualizes the experience of a young female of color trying to juggle the many aspects her identity.