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.

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.

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From is a powerful book along the lines of Angie Thomas's The Hate You Give. . Liliana is a very intelligent teen-aged girl who loves to write. Her mother is from El Salvador and her father from Guatemala. Both parents are undocumented, but Liliana and her twin brothers are U.S. citizens, having been born in the states. Liliana's Dad is gone again and when they find out he's been deported, her mother comes undone. To top it off, Liliana was accepted into the METCO program and has to take a bus to a swanky school in Boston, an hour from her home in Jamaica Plain. Of course she's nervous, but she has the support of her best friend Jade, when Jade can tear herself away from her new boyfriend. Liliana soon gets into the routine of smaller classes and teachers who challenge students to think outside the box. Her favorite program is a writing lab. The teacher poses questions for the students to answer and Liliana finds herself glossing over the less savory parts of her life. She also catches the eye of the hunky Duncan and starts spending time with him, in spite of warning from the other METCO students. This can't go on for long. Once horrible, racist memes begin to show up on social media, tempers start to boil. The racism begins to run rampant on all sides. Liliana has to decide whether to stand up for herself and fight, or to come up with another way to give voice to everyone who wants to be heard.

Jennifer De Leon has created a book that everyone must read. Diversity in young adult fiction is growing by leaps and bounds and Don't Ask Me Where I'm From is another fantastic book delving into another person''s story that needs to be told. This would be an excellent classroom book - tons of room for discussion and projects. De Leon is a very good writer and handles sensitive subject matter with dignity and compassion..

While probably a good book, with a great story, I couldn't get past the first few chapters as the way the story flowed with discombobulated for me. I had a hard time with the way the characters spoke to one another. Not the actual conversations, but how it was written. While in some areas this would probably sell well, in my area it would not.

Excellent book about the very timely issue of the immigration debate in the United States. Lili was a great character who was very relatable. The author did a fantastic job of putting the reader in Lili's shoes. A powerful, first hand look at immigration in our country and how it affects young people. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo.

This was a very well-written, with the times young adult book about a first-generation American LatinX individual. (LatinX is a gender-neutral term used in place of Latina or Latino).
This book realistically depicted the struggles that an individual faces when attending a school when surrounded by others who are not like you, and the feeling that one needs to hide their true identity in order to be accepted by them. This is a topic that has been done in other novels, but De Leon is able to make the "familiar" and make it feel fresh. The characters are realistic and fleshed out. This book is an emotional journey, and I would recommend it to any who enjoy realistic YA fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the advance Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this one, which doesn’t release until 8.4.20. Add it to your purchase lists and TBRs though, as it is timely and riveting. First-generation American Liliana Cruz is surprised to learn that her parents signed her up for METCO, a program that takes Boston teens to the suburbs to integrate schools. When she is accepted, Lili finds herself in a whole new world. When she learns that her father has been deported and that both of her parents are undocumented, she feels even more out of place. Can she cope with her home reality and still blend in? Highly recommended for grades 8+.

I wasn’t able to get into the story. It took me awhile to figure out where the plot was going and the writing style was difficult for me to get into. I did like that the main character was from Latin America and we got to see a different perspective.

The story grabbed me on the first page and held on until the last. Lilliana is chosen for a program out of her inner-city Boston high school for an "integrated" school in the suburbs. (Read: bussing in kids of color). She makes friends with other kids in the program as well as upper-middle class suburbanites. Her identity becomes stronger as she experiences these new friendships.

Lilliana never knew her parents were undocumented and now her dad has been deported. What does this mean for her family? I have kids in my own classroom who could relate to Lili's story. I hope they get a chance to read about her in order to look into the literary mirror this will be for them.

*The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5: In once scene, Lili forgets her phone and has to use the office line to call her mother. However, that same day she is texting her boyfriend. Maybe I missed a device somewhere, but it seemed incongruent.

This is such an important, necessary book with a lovable MC and characters that feel so real I could see them walking the halls of my own school!

This book is about a young girl who gets invited to attend a school in a more affluent suburb of Boston, as part of a "diversity inclusion" program (read: desegregation). Liliana struggles to make friends with the other kids from the program and immediately finds herself in a relationship with a white boy, something she knows her mother wouldn't approve of. As Liliana slowly starts to acclimate, she begins to leave parts of her old self behind, even opting to go by Lili at school. With her dad involved in a nightmarish situation made worse by the current political climate, and her family stretched to the breaking point, Liliana must decide how much of her identity she's willing to lose to fit in--and when she should fight back.

The voice is immediately captivating and authentically teen. I felt like one of my students could be telling me Liliana's story, and as a teacher in a majority-POC, majority-economically disadvantaged area, I'm sure the story will ring true to many of my students. This book addresses issues of race and class in a very thoughtful, nuanced way that is so current and necessary, especially right now. I will take Liliana's words with me forever, and the question of "What can I do to support you?" is one I won't soon forget. The book was funny, moving, heartfelt, and at times even suspenseful, but above all it was REAL. Nothing felt forced or overdone, and I can't stress enough how much we need this book today.

I already try to practice language sensitivity and cultural competency, but this book has given me even more to think about. Thank you to the author for writing such an important story!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great YA novel about a group of exceptional inner city minority students who are given scholarships to a prestigious, mostly white, suburban school. Lili, the protagonist, struggles to fit in and to blend her life at home with her life at the school. There are racial and ethnic slurs and issues, and Lili is able to find the strength to be part of the solution and to bring understanding and empathy to her school community.

Liliana is a 15-year-old Latinx Bostonian whose life drastically changes when she gets accepted into Metco, a program that aims to desegregate the ultra-white and wealthy suburban schools in Massachusetts by busing ~inner-city~ students of color. Liliana is already dealing with so much when the story starts--her mother's depression, her father apparently leaving, taking care of her little brothers, and her best friend ditching her to spend time with her boyfriend. At her new school, Liliana suddenly finds herself a minority among her many ignorant peers, who frequently ask her, "Where are you from?" and "What are you?"

I was hooked on this fast-paced story from the start. Liliana's angst is real (and justified!) and made me want to keep reading. The secondary characters were also very vivid and believable and sometimes really infuriating. De León really captures this moment in history so well...

This is a timely and necessary story that highlights the issues many of our mixed-status students face during this unfortunate time in American history, when people's livelihoods are at stake and our own president is spewing hatred and misinformation. I am thrilled that this book exists because as a Boston public school teacher, I have met many Lilianas--students who are forced to grow up, speak up, and take on a lot of responsibilities at a young age. Liliana's story is one of courage, resiliency, and power. Kids like her deserve to see themselves reflected in books... and kids who are not like her need to read these important stories in order to educate themselves (and not say ignorant nonsense). I also appreciated De Leon's ability to balance storytelling with the history of colonization, war, and immigration in Central and North America. Readers will no doubt be captivated by the story but they'll also learn the reasons why people flee their countries and sacrifice so much in order to have better lives.

Although I received a free e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I will be purchasing a physical copy of the novel for my classroom library because this story is a must-read.

I am so thankful to NetGalley and Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books for the ARC of this ebook! Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From does a wonderful job of demonstrating systematic racism, daily segregation, white fragility, and so much more. I really felt for Lillian and learned along with her about other border walls that have existed throughout history. It was an easy and informative YA novel! Keep your eyes peeled for this book, it is being published on May 5th!!