Erika Sanchez, the author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, will be the featured author at the Library Media Center’s author in the house event on Nov. 6.
The event will be held through zoom. It will allow students to learn about Sanchez and even ask questions. Interested students should fill out the book reservation form and pick up Sanchez’s book at AT door 1.
Although this year’s author in the house presentation may seem unconventional, readers such as Lindsey Pham are excited about this new way of interacting with authors.
“I am optimistic about the meeting, and I cannot wait to hear about the author, her story, and how she wrote it. I can’t wait to see how the zoom presentation goes,” Pham said.
Rose Janus, the head of the LMC, is excited about this new way of showing students the Author in the house as well.
“This is the first time we are doing a joined, large group, zoom presentation with Addison Trail and Willowbrook at the same time, so I am excited and interested to see how it goes.”
Janusz also described reasons why Sanchez was an author of interest for the year’s Author in the House event.
“We chose Erika Sanchez as the author in the house because she has a lot to say to a lot of our students, many of our students, and everyone. We thought that she would be very relatable to teenagers as a whole,” she said.
Ms. Sanchez grew up in Cicero and had a really interesting life growing up. Her parents were undocumented Mexican immigrants and the community that she lived in really influenced her writing and her life. As a result, when she wrote I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter she wrote it from the point of view of a teenager and wanted to imbed a teenage outlook into the book.
Erika Sanchez will be focusing on many different aspects of her book during the zoom presentation. She is expected to first focus on her book itself- plot, characters, the evolution of the main character- but then talk about her life experiences and her process of writing.
“Many students are very curious about how to become a writer, how to publish, so the author will focus on information like that,” said Janusz.
Janusz also explained that it is very hard to get the word out about the library and different events going on while AT is in the remote setting. She said that she is dependent on being invited into a class and right now it is hard for her to interact with students. She encourages students to visit the Addison Trail library website, which has links to reserve a book, research questions, and anything else students might need from the library, including the author in the house information.
The author in the house presentation will be in three different sessions, and they will be recorded in case anyone misses the presentation. The first session will be during the sixth period and it will be about her book, I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. The second session, which will be held during seventh period, is called the ‘immigrant experience’ and it will be about her experience growing up in her family and community and how the situation looks like today for her. The third session will include a conversation with the author and take place during eighth period.
“Students will be allowed to submit questions they would like to ask Erika Sanchez or topics they would like to discuss with her. Students should come ready to interact and ask questions,”said Janusz.
Janusz concluded by stating that she is both very excited and nervous and encouraging all students to attend on Nov. 6.
