On "the single story"
with Jennifer De Leon author of 'Borderless'
#NuevasPaginas is a space that aims to amplify and spotlight Hispanic/Latine/x authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to their next favorite Hispanic/Latine/x authored book through a mini casual get-to-know-the-book-and-author interview. So give please spread the news so we can reach more readers and continue the love/support of Latine literature!
How does it work?!
Here’s the deal, I came up with a set of casual/random/fun questions to ask each Hispanic/Latinx/e author, I interview. If you are new here don’t forget to check out all the other amazing interviews! We also have a great line-up of guest authors coming up so make sure you don’t miss an issue by subscribing now!
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Hey Heyyy Book Franz!
Happy Tuesday, in today’s issue we are celebrating a book birthday (!!!) with a FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY - Here is what you need to do to enter (it’s very easy): Comment below that you are interested in a copy of today’s featured book/author and you’ll receive a bonus entry if you share today’s issue with a friend and or on social media somewhere. Once you’ve shared it somewhere - comment again below and let me know, so you can be entered to win twice. I’ll announce the winners in next week’s issue! One minor entry requirement is that you must be U.S. based to enter. This is due to the publisher.
A brief reminder that later this evening you can catch
and I at East City Book Shop - 7 PM EST. We’ll be chatting about Sarah's stunning debut novel ‘The Skin And Its Girl’! Please join us if you can <3What is Lupita reading this week?
On audio, I still making my way through A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston by Robyn Crawford.
I’ve switched reading Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration by Alejandra Oliva from my e-reader to a physical copy I own and I’m still really into this one. I’ve underlined so much already.
Without further ado, our very special guest author for today’s Nuevas Pagina issue is……Jennifer De Leon author of Borderless!
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
This photo was taken inside my home outside of Boston. I had just opened a box of finished copies of my new YA novel, BORDERLESS. You can’t see them in the picture, but my parents are in the room, too. In many ways, this image is a metaphor for my writing life. I write about them, for them, of them, and I do so as if they are always standing in the room with me, so to speak. They emigrated from Guatemala to the United States in the 1970s and they built a life in this country—learning a new language, working hard, buying a house, sending their daughters to college, all while maintaining much of their Latinx culture and traditions that they have passed down to their children and grandchildren.
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book.
I have so many literary inspirations for this particular book! A few are: Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli, Where We Come From by Oscar Cásares, We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez, The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú, and the poetry collection, Unaccompanied by Javier Zamora.
Part of my inspiration for writing this book was to set a story in Guatemala about a ‘normal’ teen girl, just living her life, doing her thing. What would it take for her to yank herself from her home and leave for the United States? Not everyone dreams of coming North. I wanted to disrupt “the single story” about Guatemalan migrants and to do so in a Young Adult novel.
What are two central themes in your book that you connect with the most and why?
The main character, Maya, has learned to take (literal) scraps and make something beautiful from them. She is an aspiring fashion designer (specifically, trashion), and she transforms material that others might overlook—coffee filters, plastic tablecloths, newspaper, even chuchito wrappers!—and creates designs. The theme of making something more with what you have is prevalent throughout the novel. Another theme is a strong mother-daughter connection. Even if not physically together, this bond can be something that carries you forward in the most difficult of times.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
Ha! Probably an anthology, only because I can’t decide. A short story. A poem. An essay. A novel excerpt. Even a letter. I can’t choose. I love stories in all their forms.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
Maybe Luna de Xelaju by Gaby Moreno, an old Guatemalan song sung by a modern Guatemalan female musician.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
Tortillas con queso! Preferably slightly burned. Maybe with a rum and coke. ☺
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
I didn’t read a book by a Latinx author until I was almost nineteen years old and a freshman in college. When my professor assigned The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros for an American literature course, I thought she had made a mistake. Some of the words were in Spanish. I didn’t know you were allowed to write like this, like poetry, but in prose, in a language that was honest and simple, yet so true. Her words felt like home. After reading this book, I decided I wanted to be an author, too.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
Readers can follow me on Instagram @jdeleonwriter. They can also subscribe to my newsletter by visiting my website: www.jenniferdeleonauthor.com
Thank you to Jennifer De Leon for taking the time to chat with me about her book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) #SupportLatinxLit!
Jennifer De Leon is an author, editor, speaker, and creative writing professor who lives outside of Boston. She is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, the 2015-2016 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library, and a 2016-2017 City of Boston Artist-in-Residence. She is also the second recipient of the We Need Diverse Books grant. She is the author of Don't Ask Me Where I'm From and Borderless.
Synopsis for Borderless from the Bookshop website:
Caught in the crosshairs of gang violence, a teen girl and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US border in this heart-wrenching young adult novel from the author of Don't Ask Me Where I'm From.
For seventeen-year-old Maya, trashion is her passion, and her talent for making clothing out of unusual objects landed her a scholarship to Guatemala City's most prestigious art school and a finalist spot in the school's fashion show. Mamá is her biggest supporter, taking on extra jobs to pay for what the scholarship doesn't cover, and she might be even more excited than Maya about what the fashion show could do for her future career.
So when Mamá doesn't come to the show, Maya doesn't know what to think. But the truth is worse than she could have imagined. The gang threats in their neighborhood have walked in their front door--with a boy Maya considered a friend, or maybe more, among them. After barely making their escape, Maya and her mom have no choice but to continue their desperate flight all the way through Guatemala and Mexico in hopes of crossing the US border.
They have to cross. They must cross! Can they?
I'd love to win a copy of this book! It's been on my wishlist 🤩 I'm loving the new authors for the Latinx community. I'm so use to reading items from Luis J Rodriguez, art Rodriguez and luis alberto urreo all whom I adore!
I'd love to win a copy of this one! I loved her first YA.