I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

【我拒絕當你的乖乖牌】

完美的墨西哥女兒不上大學，她們高中畢業後也不會搬出父母的家，完美的女兒永遠不會拋棄她的家庭。但 Julia 才不當什麼完美的墨西哥女兒，姊姊 Olga 當就好。15歲的 Julia 與姊姊截然不同，她對大學抱持著夢想，熱愛詩詞、文學與藝術，英文老師的支持也讓她信心滿滿。

但是在芝加哥的一場車禍卻帶走了姊姊 Olga 22歲的青春年華，只留下妹妹與分崩離析的家。 在姊姊走後，Julia 從前的擋箭牌不復在，對女兒期待的矛頭直指著 Julia。母親的控制欲與狂暴的情緒只想緊緊抓住剩下的唯一女兒，希望女兒不會步入她的後塵，但是英文不好的媽媽， 對於伶牙俐嘴、總愛唱反調的 Julia 卻一點辦法也沒有。

另一方面，Julia 也逐漸發現姊姊 Olga 並非真的如親戚們所想的如此「完美」。在好友　Lorena 與初戀情人 Connor 的互相幫助下，Julia 漸漸揭開了姊姊的另一段人生故事，同時也處理著他們各自的人生課題。

融合了美國移民背景、藍領階級家庭經濟問題、對女性傳統而過時的角色期待以及面臨手足死亡的議題，當被家庭寄予厚望的長女意外身亡後，總是逃避責任的次女，該如何正視家庭的狀況，學習與長輩溝通、追尋並建立屬於自己的理想，而說服他人的第一步就是先說服自己，相信自己。

Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.

But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.

Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend, Lorena, and her first love (first everything), Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?