Oak Forest HS Students Interview Author Erika L. Sanchez

Oak Forest High School Senior Nicole Tucker asked author Erika L Sanchez, “What sets your books apart [from others]?” That interesting question started the Oak Forest High School student experience this week at the Chicago Humanities Festival, where OFHS students, along with English teacher Jen Schanz, traveled to listen to author Erika L. Sanchez speak about her recent YA book I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, which is up for the National Book Award. Sanchez responded to Tucker’s question by saying that she “wrote a multi-layered story covering many issues, such as mental illness, immigration, and Mexican drug cartels, but did so using humor.”

Sanchez is an accomplished writer. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a CantoMundo Fellowship recipient, and a Bread Loaf Scholar. She has written as a columnist for Cosmopolitan for Latinas, and has written for Salon,Rolling Stone, Jezebel, The Guardian and BuzzFeed. Sanchez said that “in my writing, I want to ‘look beyond the surface of things’ because humans are extremely complex. As a woman of color, people didn't expect much of me. A grad school teacher at the University of New Mexico said I wasn't smart enough for his class. Now I teach at Princeton, and my first novel is a National Book Award finalist!”

In Sanchez’s I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, the main character's teacher really understands her unique perspective. When Sanchez was in high school at Morton East High School, her teachers "got her" and gave her books to read and events to attend. Sanchez mashed those teachers into the character in the book because her high school teachers gave her hope. She said that “they also taught her that ‘language is a tool of power’ because the ability to code-switch from a friend conversation to a job interview is powerful.”

Her advice to students is to "write if you absolutely love it," but "make friends with rejection." She has lost count of the rejections her novel received, but she did not lose hope.

Several students asked questions after the reading and interview. OFHS Senior Valerie Ramirez asked how the author named her characters. Sanchez said, "Oooh, good question." She explained that she uses a baby name book and just feels when the name she sees clicks.

Because both the author and her main character suffer from mental illness, OFHS Senior Brian Kristin asked if she is better at writing about depression rather than talking about it. The author said it's easier to write about it because "when you are writing, you get to revise." Senior Taylor Valuch wondered what advice the author would give to people who don't like reading. Sanchez said, "People who don't like reading haven't found the right book."