Ordinary Girls : a memoir

Summary: One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2019 According to Time * Publishers Weekly?*? The Millions?*? The Week * Good Housekeeping "There is more life packed on each page of Ordinary Girls than some lives hold in a lifetime."?Julia Alvarez? In?this searing memoir,?Jaquira D?az writes fiercely and eloquently of her?challenging girlhood and triumphant coming of age. While growing up in housing projects?in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, D?az found herself caught between extremes. As?her family split apart and her mother battled?schizophrenia, she was supported by?the love of her friends. As she longed for a family and home, her life was upended?by violence. As she celebrated her Puerto Rican?culture, she couldn?t find?support for her burgeoning sexual identity.?From her own struggles with?depression and sexual assault to Puerto Rico?s history of colonialism,?every?page of? Ordinary Girls?vibrates with music and lyricism.?D?az?writes with raw and refreshing honesty,?triumphantly mapping a way out of despair toward?love and?hope, to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be.?Reminiscent of Tara Westover?s? Educated,?Kiese Laymon?s? Heavy, Mary?Karr?s? The Liars? Club, and Terese Marie Mailhot?s? Heart Berries,?Jaquira D?az?s?memoir?provides a?vivid portrait of a life lived in (and beyond) the borders of Puerto Rico and?its complicated history?and reads as electrically as a novel.