83 pages • 2 hours read
Erika L. SanchezI Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Chapters 1-5
Reading Check
1. What is the one thing that the narrator, Julia, and Olga have in common?
2. What does Amá do that makes Julia feel embarrassed?
3. How did Olga die?
4. Who is Lorena?
5. Why does Amá want to give Julia a quinceañera?
6. How does Amá react when she finds Julia in Olga’s room?
7. What happens when Julia’s math teacher asks her to answer his question?
8. What item does Julia say that most Mexican mothers knit?
Multiple Choice
1. Consider the following quote from Chapter 1: “This was not the Olga I knew. Olga was as meek and fragile as a baby bird.” What literary device does the author use in this quote?
A) metaphor
B) simile
C) personification
D) anecdote
2. Julia’s decision to eat dinner at the restaurant is an example of what?
A) her obsession with Mexican food
B) her dedication to her sister’s legacy
C) her self-sufficiency in difficult times
D) her desire to learn how to cook
3. Which of the following best summarizes the interaction between Amá and Julia as they cook tortillas?
A) They are happy to make the most of their time together after Olga’s death.
B) They are filled with sorrow as they make Olga’s favorite meal.
C) Julia feels pressured to make the tortillas for the family since Amá has stopped cooking.
D) The interaction is tense, since Amá wants Julia to help but Julia is not interested in learning how to cook.
4. How can Lorena and Julia’s interactions with José Luis best be described?
A) as uncomfortable, since José Luis has had inappropriate interactions with both girls
B) as loving and warm, since José Luis is like a father to the girls
C) as enthusiastic, since José Luis helps the girls with their homework
D) as inspiring, since José Luis is a popular teacher at their school
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Compare and contrast Julia’s and Olga’s approaches to their Future Plans.
2. What are the differences between how Amá and Apá process their Grief after the funeral?
3. Who is Mr. Ingman? How does he support Julia’s love of English?
4. Who is Angie? What does Julia go to her house to ask her about?
5. In Chapter 5, Julia has her first kiss. How does she describe this experience? Whom does she kiss? Does she like it? Why or why not?
Chapters 6-9
Reading Check
1. Why does Julia hate Tío Cayetano?
2. What do the men talk about at the party while they drink tequila?
3. Who is Juanga?
4. How does Julia get a dress for the dance? Why?
5. Julia keeps referencing that she is waiting for a year and a half. What will happen at that time?
6. How does Apá respond when Julia tells him she wants to be a writer?
Multiple Choice
1. Consider the following quote: “Maybe she thinks that if she leaves me alone, I’m going to orchestrate a giant orgy or overdose on heroin” (Chapter 6). What literary device does the author use in this quote?
A) simile
B) metaphor
C) onomatopoeia
D) hyperbole
2. How does Julia view the people she meets when helping her mother clean their homes?
A) She pities them, since they are volunteering to help poor families in the community.
B) She is fascinated by them, since they are wealthy professionals that she aspires to become like one day.
C) She is disgusted by them and finds them lazy, since they are wealthy and do not take care of themselves.
D) She is embarrassed to be seen by them, since she is ashamed her mother cleans houses.
3. Which of the following pairs of adjectives best describes Julia’s interaction with Mr. Ingman in Chapter 9?
A) awkward and uncomfortable
B) curious and supportive
C) difficult and invasive
D) nonchalant and blasé
Short-Answer Response
1. Describe Julia’s dream at the end of Chapter 6.
2. Summarize the events of the masquerade. Who is there? How does Julia get invited? What happens at the event?
3. In Chapter 9, what happens at the party that Lorena and Julia attend after the high school dance?
Chapters 10-13
Reading Check
1. What does the school organize every spring?
2. When were the only times that Julia saw Apá happy?
3. How does Mr. Ingman describe Julia’s feelings?
4. Why does Lorena come to Julia’s house in Chapter 12?
5. Which guest is Julia surprised to see at her quinceañera?
6. What do Julia and her parents see when they come home and turn on the apartment lights?
Multiple Choice
1. Why is Lorena frustrated with Julia during the field trip?
A) because Julia told Juanga she does not want to be friends with him
B) because Julia does not acknowledge that Lorena is a “sexpert”
C) because Julia thinks she is too good for everything and she is too hard on people
D) because Julia will not stop talking about Olga
2. In Chapter 11, Julia says, “We’re barely halfway through the second semester of junior year, and all I can think about is getting the hell out of here and going to college. I feel as smothered and restless as ever. It’s like I’m a wound-up toy with nowhere to move.” Which of the following literary devices does Julia use in the quote?
A) simile and hyperbole
B) simile and metaphor
C) hyperbole and allusion
D) allusion and metaphor
Short-Answer Response
1. What does Julia decide her options are in order to find out more information about Olga?
2. Summarize what happens to Julia as she walks home from Lorena’s house after they eat pizza.
3. What happens between Julia and her tía in the bathroom at the quinceañera? How do her parents react?
Chapters 14-18
Reading Check
1. Why does Julia meet Mr. Ingman every week?
2. What does Mr. Ingman encourage Julia to write about for her college applications?
3. What does Connor offer to help Julia with so she can find out more about her sister?
4. In Chapter 15, what are some of the ways that Julia’s family still experiences Grief from Olga’s death?
5. What winter activity do Julia, Lorena and Juanga do together one weekend?
6. What important item does Julia discover at the end of Chapter 15? Where is it located?
7. Who is Dr. Cooke?
8. Who is Tasha?
9. Where do Amá and Apá decide Julia will go for a while?
Multiple Choice
1. In Chapter 15, Julia says, “Happiness is a dandelion wisp floating through the air that I can’t catch. No matter how hard I try, no matter how fast I run, I just can’t reach it. Even when I think I grasp it, I open my hand and it’s empty.” What literary device does Julia use in this quote?
A) simile
B) metaphor
C) hyperbole
D) personification
2. On her walk through Millennium Park, Julia remarks that “The snow is pretty when it falls, but it hasn’t snowed in about a week. All that’s left now is slushy and gray, or yellow from all the dog pee. I wish winter would pack its bags and get the hell out already” (Chapter 16). What type of literary device does she use in this quote?
A) simile
B) metaphor
C) hyperbole
D) personification
3. Which of the following best describes Julia’s relationship with Juanga by the end of Chapter 18?
A) They are both competing for Lorena’s attention.
B) Julia still dislikes Juanga, although he has tried to win her approval.
C) Julia and Juanga have become better friends on their own, and frequently laugh together.
D) They do not speak, since Juanga has stopped spending time with Julia and Lorena.
4. During Julia’s sessions with Dr. Cooke, which of the following emotions is associated with sex?
A) fear
B) anger
C) sadness
D) guilt
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. In Chapter 14, how do Connor and Julia meet? What do they do together? How does Julia feel about him on their first few dates?
2. What does Amá find in Julia’s room? What are some of the consequences of this discovery for Julia?
3. In Chapter 17, Julia wakes up in a hospital. Summarize the series of events that led her there, as well as the recommendations from the medical professionals to support her.
4. What big secret does Julia find out about Olga at the end of Chapter 18? How does she find this out?
Chapters 19-22
Reading Check
1. What happens to the receipt that Julia carries with her?
2. What Mexican dish does Mamá Jacinta teach Julia to make?
3. What interesting information does Julia learn about Apá?
4. Who is Belén?
5. What do Julia and Andrés do during the party?
6. Who is Esteban?
7. Why does Julia leave Los Ojos?
8. What does Mamá Jacinta give Julia when she leaves?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following best describes Julia’s reunion with her extended family in Mexico?
A) joyful and emotional
B) sad and depressing
C) awkward and uncomfortable
D) angry and scornful
2. Why does Julia wonder if Amá’s sister, Tía Fermina, ever compared herself to Amá?
A) because Amá was always perceived to be the smartest in school
B) because Amá was more popular than her sister in Los Ojos
C) because Amá was considered to be very beautiful
D) because Amá dated, and eventually married, Tía Fermina’s high school boyfriend
3. Consider the following quote: “I’m so nervous I can’t even move. We sit like that for a few seconds until Belén comes out of the store with the sack of meat we have to take to Mamá Jacinta for dinner. I jump up and leave without looking at Esteban, my heart inside my mouth” (Chapter 22). Which of the following literary devices does the author use in this quote to describe how Julia feels when she is with Esteban?
A) simile
B) metaphor
C) personification
D) hyperbole
4. When Esteban tells Julia that he might try to cross the border to the U.S., Julia says, “Be careful. Please. The border…It’s nothing but a giant wound, a big gash between the two countries. Why does it have to be like that? I don’t understand. It’s just some random, stupid line. How can anyone tell people where they can and can’t go” (Chapter 22). Which literary device is used in this quote?
A) simile
B) metaphor
C) personification
D) hyperbole
Short Answer Response
1. During her time in Mexico, Julia notices some stark contrasts of herself compared to when she is in the U.S. Summarize some of the differences she notices.
2. What unusual event happens at the end of Julia’s cousin Paulina’s birthday party?
3. What shocking information does Tía Fermina share with Julia? Why does she tell her this?
Chapters 23-26
Reading Check
1. Where do Julia and Amá go together after the airport?
2. Who does Julia go see after she arrives in Chicago?
3. What event does Julia agree to attend with her mom?
4. Where do Lorena and Julia go together on the train? Why?
5. Why does Julia go to Olga’s former workplace?
Multiple Choice
1. While eating dinner with Amá, Julia thinks to herself: “I can’t look at Amá without thinking about the border. I keep picturing her screaming on the ground, Apá with a gun to his head. I don’t think I can ever tell her that I know. But how do we live with these secrets locked within us? How do we tie our shoes, brush our hair, drink coffee, wash the dishes, and go to sleep, pretending everything is fine? How do we laugh and feel happiness despite the buried things growing inside? How can we do that day after day” (Chapter 23)? Which of the following literary devices is used in this quote?
A) personification
B) alliteration
C) allegory
D) anaphora
2. How do Angie and Julia’s opinions differ in terms of who they think should know Olga’s secret?
A) Angie wanted Olga to tell everyone, but Julia believes it should be kept from their parents.
B) Angie believes Julia should know about Olga, but Julia regrets learning the truth.
C) Angie does not want to cause Julia’s parent’s any pain, but Julia believes her parents should learn the truth.
D) Angie and Julia both believe they must continue to keep Olga’s past a secret.
3. Which of the following best describes Lorena’s feelings toward Connor?
A) She is suspicious of his motives and protective of her best friend.
B) She is delighted that Julia is in love.
C) She finds Connor very attractive.
D) She is jealous that Julia has a wealthy boyfriend.
Short Answer Response
1. What information does Julia discover about Olga after reading the email chain? What shocking new piece of information does she learn at the end of Chapter 23?
2. Julia approaches an important person in Chapter 26. Describe this confrontation. What information does she learn?
Chapters 27-29
Reading check
1. According to Julia, what are the two reasons that Amá would keep her secret about what happened at the border from her daughters?
2. What new exercise does Julia do in order to help her mental health?
3. Which two colleges is Julia accepted to?
4. What are Lorena’s Future Plans?
5. What does Julia give Apá at the airport?
6. What does Julia carry in her journal?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following best describes Amá and Apa’s reactions to Julia’s college acceptances?
A) excitement and support
B) anger and betrayal
C) worry and reservation
D) annoyance and jealousy
2. Julia’s conversation with Amá in Chapter 28 can be characterized by which of the following sentences?
A) Amá is ashamed that Julia has chosen to leave the family for college during this time of mourning.
B) Amá is supportive of Julia’s choice to attend college, but wants her to be careful with boys.
C) Amá is scared that Julia will forget her culture when she lives in New York.
D) Amá is overjoyed for Julia and does not have any reservations about her future.
Short Answer Response
1. Julia mentions two ways in which her mental health has improved. What are they?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Chapters 1-5
Reading Check
1. They loved each other (Chapter 1).
2. when her mother apologizes to white people (Chapter 1)
3. She was hit by a semi-truck while crossing the street (Chapter 1).
4. Julia’s best friend (Chapter 1)
5. because she regrets not giving Olga one, and Julia will
still be 15 in a few months (Chapter 2)
6. She restricts her activities, takes away her phone, and
doesn’t let her close her bedroom door (Chapter 3).
7. She tells him she was not paying attention, he tells
her to come to the board, and she says no and walks out of the class (Chapter 3).
8. doilies (Chapter 4)
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer
1. Olga prefers a more scheduled life of working and staying at home with their parents, while Julia dreams about leaving and
“grabbing life by the balls” (Chapter 1).
2. Amá has stopped washing and cleaning the house and spends all day in bed. Apá goes about his life in the same way as before: working and sitting on the couch with a beer (Chapter 2).
3. He is the English teacher at Julia’s school. He is the only teacher that Julia really likes and he treats the students like adults. He wants to help his students “love” learning English (Chapter 3).
4. Julia goes to speak to Angie in hopes that she will have some answers about the underwear and hotel key that Olga had hidden in her room. Angie is very distraught from Olga’s death, and she says she doesn’t know about the items that Julia found (Chapter 4).
5. Her first kiss is with a guy she hasn’t met before, named Ramiro. He is friends with Lorena and Carlos. They all drive to the beach, and Lorena and Carlos leave them alone. After a small dispute about music, Ramiro kisses her. She doesn’t mind it at first, but it “grosses” her out soon after (Chapter 5).
Chapter 6-9
Reading Check
1. because he sticks his finger in her mouth (i.e., Sexual Assault) (Chapter 6)
2. They reminisce about their town in Mexico (Chapter 6).
3. Juan García, Lorena’s new friend at school, who is gay (Chapter 7)
4. She borrows a dress from Lorena because she and Amá could not agree on a dress to buy at the store (Chapter 9).
5. She’ll be old enough to leave home and go to college (Chapter 9).
6. that she should make enough money not to have an apartment full of roaches (Chapter 9)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. Julia is in her grandmother’s house in Mexico when it catches on fire. She runs outside and sees her grandfather holding a dead goat in his hands. She screams at him for her grandmother, but he doesn’t respond. Then she runs to the river and jumps in. She sees Olga as a mermaid, but when Julia calls to her, other mermaids come to take her sister away (Chapter 6).
2. Juanga invites Lorena and Julia to an adult masquerade party. At the party there are drag queens and people from the LGBTQI+ community. Julia runs into a friend of Olga’s who didn’t know she had died. Julia and her friends get drunk and Juanga drives them home (Chapter 7).
3. Julia wants to go to the party to talk to Alex’s sister, Jessica. She goes with Lorena, and they both get drunk. She can’t find
Jessica, and falls asleep at the party until the police show up at 3 a.m. (Chapter 9).
Chapters 10-13
Reading Check
1. a trip outside of Chicago for the students (Chapter 10)
2. when the family went to the beach (Chapter 10)
3. “Existential despair” (Chapter 10)
4. to apologize to her and make up after their argument (Chapter 12)
5. Angie (Chapter 13)
6. cockroaches (Chapter 13)
Multiple Choice
1. C (Chapter 10)
2. A (Chapter 11)
Short Answer
1. Julia’s options are to: go to Olga’s work, get her transcripts from the community college, or ask Juanga to ask his friend for
Jazymyn’s number (Chapter 11).
2. She is walking home from Lorena’s house when a car pulls alongside her and the men inside make sexually inappropriate remarks (i.e., Sexual Assault). She sees an old man up the road and walks to him. He curses at the men in the car, and they leave. The older man walks her home (Chapter 12).
3. She tells her tía that she is “bitter” because her husband left her and she needs to “get over it.” Her tía tells her parents what Julia said, and when they return home, both Amá and Apá are very unhappy with her (Chapter 13).
Chapters 14-18
Reading Check
1. so he can help her prepare for applying to colleges (Chapter 14)
2. He encourages her to emphasize that she is “undocumented” on her college applications (Chapter 14).
3. hacking into Olga’s laptop (Chapter 14)
4. Amá is still crying a lot, Apá is still silent, and Julia still sometimes thinks her sister is coming home (Chapter 15).
5. sledding (Chapter 15)
6. the key to Olga’s room in an old box of waffles in the freezer (Chapter 15)
7. a psychologist who works in the hospital (Chapter 17)
8. a girl who she meets in the outpatient program (Chapter 18)
9. to stay with Mamá Jacinta in Mexico (Chapter 18)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. She meets Connor in a bookstore, and then they go to a coffee shop together. She is surprised that he cares so much about her, and she feels comfortable telling him things. They walk around for a long time, and he says he wants to see her again. The next time they meet, they go to an Indian restaurant together. They share their first kiss in the park (Chapter 14).
2. Amá finds Olga’s underwear, as well as condoms and the hotel key, in Julia’s room. She punishes Julia by not letting her go anywhere, and she continually goes through Julia’s belongings, such as her journals. Julia feels trapped in her home and is also frustrated that she cannot see Connor (Chapter 16).
3. Julia wakes up in a hospital because she tried hurting herself the night before. She begins to see a psychologist, Dr. Cooke, who diagnoses her with severe depression. After attending counseling, she is approved for an outpatient program with therapy (Chapter 17).
4. Julia finds the password to log into Olga’s computer, which is also the same password to log into her email. She finds an
email chain with another user, in which Julia deduces that Olga had been seeing a married man for years. Julia is leaving for Mexico tomorrow, so she cannot read the whole email chain, but she decides to return the laptop to Olga’s room
to keep it safe (Chapter 18).
Chapters 19-22
Reading Check
1. it gets wet from her water bottle, and she can’t read the password anymore (Chapter 19)
2. menudo (Chapter 19)
3. that her father used to draw (Chapter 20)
4. Julia’s cousin, as well as the town “hot girl” who befriends Julia while she is staying at Mamá Jacinta’s in Los Ojos (Chapter 20)
5. ride horses (Chapter 21)
6. a guy who works in the fruit store in Los Ojos (Chapter 22)
7. because there is violence between the “narcos” again in Los Ojos (Chapter 22)
8. the picture Apá drew of Amá (Chapter 22)
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. Possible Answers: She enjoys Coca-Cola in Mexico, but not in the U.S.; people consider her thin in Mexico, but “too fat” in the United States (Chapter 19)
2. A group of masked men with guns approaches the entrance. Julia’s Tío Chucho gives one of the men an envelope and the man looks in the direction of Andrés. They leave the party (Chapter 21).
3. When Amá and Apá crossed the border, Amá was Sexually Assaulted by the “coyotes” (i.e., smugglers). Olga was born
from this Sexual Assualt. Her tía tells her this so she can better understand how difficult her mother’s life had been (Chapter 22).
Chapters 23-26
Reading Check
1. a Chinese restaurant (Chapter 23)
2. Connor (Chapter 23)
3. a church prayer group (Chapter 23)
4. a clinic to verify if Lorena is pregnant (Chapter 25)
5. She wants to find the man that Olga was dating (Chapter 26).
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
1. She learns that he was married for 20 years, and that her sister often begged to see him. In a final sent email, she learns that her sister was pregnant at the time of her death (Chapter 23).
2. She finds the man that Olga dated at the time of her death, Dr. Castillo. She approaches him about Olga and the baby. They go to a diner together and Dr. Castillo tells her how much he loved Olga and how he wanted to marry her. She tells Julia that he divorced his wife (Chapter 26).
Chapters 27-29
Reading check
1. shame/Guilt and protection (Chapter 27)
2. swimming (Chapter 27)
3. New York University in New York and DePaul University in Chicago (Chapter 27)
4. She will attend nursing school and work as a waitress in a restaurant (Chapter 29).
5. his drawing of Amá (Chapter 29)
6. Olga’s ultrasound picture (Chapter 29)
Multiple Choice
1. C (Chapter 27)
2. B (Chapter 28)
Short Answer
1. First, Julia’s medication has “softened” her anxiety and depression. Secondly, she has learned some techniques from Dr. Cooke to help manage her anxiety (Chapter 28).
