Growing up, Erika L. Sánchez didn’t think she mattered, that the world didn’t see her because she was the daughter of working-class Mexican immigrants.
She didn’t read many portrayals of people like her in books. So when she started writing, she asked herself, “Erika, who the f*** cares?”
But now, Sánchez is a critically acclaimed author. Her 2017 novel, “I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. It’s currently being adapted into a Netflix film.
“Crying in the Bathroom” is Sánchez’s latest book. It’s a brutally honest portrayal of her life, including her triumphs and misfortunes.
She joins us to talk about growing up in a predominately Mexican neighborhood in Illinois, sex and shame, mental illness, abortion, and more.
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