Don't Ask Me Where I'm From by Jennifer De Leon Book Analysis

Have you ever moved to a new school just as the school year had begun? And had that feeling that you didn’t want to combine your old life from your old school and your new life at your new school? Well, in the book Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer Deleon, the main character, Liliana, is afraid that letting her two worlds clash will create conflict. Liliana struggles to tell her friends about her home life because she thinks her friends will make fun of her and her school life with her family. After all, she thinks her family will shame her for becoming friends with those people.

When Liliana moved to her new school, she was forced to hang out with kids that weren't part of the METCO program because the METCO kids refused to accept her. She started to hang out with her host family's daughter, Holly. In chapter 15, page 139, Liliana goes to Holly's house and is amazed by how big it is and how much freedom Holly has. Such as when “we were driving here she had asked Holly about her day and then let Holly play whatever playlist she had on her phone. When a rap song full of swears came on, Holly blasted the music, and her mother didn't even ask her to turn it down! My mom would have gone ballistic.” The way that Liliana compared what her mom’s reaction would have been to the way Holly’s mom reacted shows that Liliana is being exposed to different things compared to what she has grown up seeing. When she is with her friends she portrays herself in a certain way. But because Jennifer DeLeon wrote the book in first-person point of view, we know that Liliana is also thinking about her other world while she is with her friends. Most of the times Liliana compares her two worlds because she doesn't want them to clash but she does like certain aspects of each. And the same goes the other way around. 

Liliana never really talked to her mom much about her school life. One because she rarely had time to but also because her mom never really asked, and because of that, Liliana never really bothered to tell her mom. But Liliana’s mom did get a small perspective into the behavior that Liliana is exposed to when she is at school. In chapter 21 page 190, Liliana’s mom meets Holly. “And she didn’t even finish her orange juice,” mom said. “Nope.” That little word was all I could give in the moment. My temples throbbed. And that’s why I didn’t want Holly to come over. As I ran the faucet to wash the glass, I heard my mother sigh, then mutter, like it was an insult, “Americana.” Liliana said that she didn't want Holly to come over for a reason. And that is because she knew her mom's reaction wouldn’t be the best. When Holly asked for a tampon, Liliana’s mom balled her eyes out because, in their family, they believed that tampons were “In the same category as face piercings, a gateway to hell.” And Liliana’s mother is trying to protect her daughter from becoming one of those people. And Liliana is just trying to fit into both of her worlds. 

Liliana faces the problem of acting two different ways, in two worlds, at two different times. She has to code-switch. And even though that was hard for Liliana at first, she realized that it was better to keep her two worlds separate than mix them. But when her two worlds did clash, she struggled to understand why. In Chapter 20, page 179, Liliana and her best friend Jade argue. “That. That right there. You have such a stank-ass attitude. You all sarcastic. Is that what Heather or Holly or whatever her name is talk like?” I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, this is what this is about. You're jealous.” “Girl, please.” “No, for real. You act like I’m the one who has changed when you have gone from a zero to a hundred with Ernesto. He's all you ever talk about and talk to, and just, wow. And for real, Jade, why are you telling him my business? What if he told someone? Did you even think about that, for one second?” Jade and Liliana are arguing about how Jade thinks Liliana had changed and Liliana thinks that Jade has changed. But when Jade brings up Holly and the white school that she goes to, Liliana realizes that her two worlds are completely different. And that they don't go hand in hand. At home she uses slang, she talks differently, her body language changes, the way she talks changes, everything changes. But the second she walks into her school, she is an innocent, new kid. She tries not to stand out as much, the way she talks changes, the way she acts changes, practically everything changes. Liliana realizes that she is unique and special because of the opportunities that she has gotten but she also struggles to figure out how to manage both worlds simultaneously. 

Liliana is a girl who went to Boston public schools until she was handed that opportunity to go to a rich white school that offers better education and better opportunities. She struggles and navigates through the process that most people go through when moving to a new school. And Liliana, like many others, struggled to keep her two worlds separate because she thought that if she clashed them together, she would face more conflict. She didn’t want her school friends to know about her home life because compared to them, she was different. Ans she didn't want her family to know about her school life because she thought that they would think that she was becoming one of “those” people. But in the end, Liliana finds her way through her struggles and figures out a way to handle both worlds at the same time. Have you ever moved to a new school just as the school year had begun? And had that feeling that you didn’t want to combine your old life from your old school and your new life at your new school? And in the end, did it all work out?