Literature To Life Adds An I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER To Its Roster

Literature to Life has announced that it has added the YA novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez to its roster. The novel will live alongside nine other classics including Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Lois Lowry's The Giver, and LTL's most recent adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Literature to Life (LTL) is a performance-based literacy program that presents professionally staged verbatim adaptations of American literary classics. Initially conceived as the educational program of the renowned American Place Theatre, LTL is now an independent organization with a mission to perform great books that inspire young people to read and become authors of their own lives.With a roster of books by authors such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Junot Díaz, Kao Kalia Yang, and more, LTL performs nationally in performing arts centers, schools, libraries, and correctional facilities.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter follows Julia Reyes, a Chicago high school student, as she navigates trials and tribulations of following her dreams of becoming a writer, alongside the death of her sister, Olga—who might not have been quite as perfect as she seemed. This story focuses on the idea of finding one's own identity, and breaking free from societal, cultural, and familial expectations. 

The story will be adapted by Ana Maria Jomolca, a Cuban American actress, writer, director and producer. For many years, she was the performer for the LTL stage adaptations of Sandra Cisneros's novel, The House on Mango Street, and The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.  She has been Teaching Artist for several Literature to Life titles, and company producer for The Latehomecomer. 

"Not all books when read aloud pop right off the page with relentless life, feistiness, hilarity, grit, imagery, and voltaic characters so unapologetically real,” says Jomolca. “You could listen to the text with your eyes closed and the book would come to life just as vividly. At times, the dialogue volleys back and forth at lightning speed, like verbal jai alai; the language so rich and savory, I find myself blurting out excerpts on subway platforms. I think Julia would approve."

Co-Founding Artistic Director Elise Thoron says of the adaptation: “I Am Not You Perfect Mexican Daughter is a perfect addition to the diverse roster of books Literature to Life performs, helping students connect reading to their own life experience. Erika Sánchez has created a compelling, feisty and laugh-out loud funny narrator, navigating a world young people can relate to, whether you are Mexican American, or not. I cannot wait to see this book come to life onstage in performance and witness the discussions it will spark after. We're particularly thrilled to be partnering with Freedom Reads to develop and present this title inside and outside prison walls.”  

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter will be co-produced in partnership with Freedom Reads, the only organization in the nation transforming the experience of incarceration by opening libraries in prison housing facilities. Freedom Reads was founded by Reginald Dwayne Betts in 2020. In an environment where the freedom to think, to contribute to a community, and even to dream about what is possible is too often curtailed, Freedom Reads reminds those inside that they have not been forgotten. To date, Freedom Reads has opened 312 Freedom Libraries in 38 adult and youth prisons across 11 states.

“As part of Freedom Reads library openings and events, our library patrons in multiple different adult and youth prisons across the nation have been enriched on countless occasions by the outstanding work of Literature to Life,” said Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts. “We treasure our collaborations with Literature to Life, like this co-production of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, and we look forward to continuing to work together to bring literature in all its forms to as many people behind bars as possible.”

To learn more about Literature to Life, visit literaturetolife.org.

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