Another in the list of books that I am reading because they made it to the National Book Award shortlist, beating out two of my favorites from 2017, both of which only made it to the long-list. Julia, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, is trying to get her life back on track and follow her dreams after the death of her older sister. She wants to go to college and become a writer. Her parents want her to aim for something they see as secure, a nice office job, maybe. They think the local junior college should be fine. They want her to be more of a good daughter, like Olga, her late sister, was.
The supporting characters are all well drawn and each of them deserve their own book. It does sometimes seem that they aren't content to be a part of Julia's story and want to tell their tale here and now. Between Julia's struggle with school, depression, her parents, her parents' backstories, boyfriends, and finding out the secrets her late sister was keeping there might be a little too much going on at once. While I appreciate the writing and the impressive scope, I fear I am not Y enough for this YA novel.
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