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Ashley Hope Pérez

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Ashley Hope Pérez is an American author. Notable books include The Knife and the Butterfly (2011), What Can(t) Wait (2011), and Out of Darkness (2015).

Personal life and education

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Pérez grew up in East Texas, approximately 20 minutes away from New London, Texas, the setting of Out of Darkness.[1]

Pérez attended the University of Texas at Austin.[2] In 2014, she earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University,[3][1] where she studied comparative literature with a focus on Latin American literature.

Pérez currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with her two sons.[4][5]

Career

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Early in her career, Pérez taught English Language Arts at César E. Chávez High School in Houston,[2][5] which is where she "—as a white woman—became passionate about stories that center Latinx lives."[6]

Aside from writing, Pérez is an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University.[3][4] In her research, she "is interested in the ethical implications of how we tell, read, mediate, and interpret narratives."[3]

Books

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The Knife and the Butterfly (2011)

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Main article: The Knife and the Butterfly

The Knife and the Butterfly is a young adult novel published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Books.[7] The novel, which explores the lives of two teenage gang members in Houston, a Hispanic boy named Azael and a White girl named Lexi, is based on the 2006 death of Gabriel Granillo.[8]: 205  The title originates from the Houston Chronicle series The Butterfly and the Knife, which chronicled the case. Pérez switched the order of the words "Knife" and "Butterfly" in order to attract male readers. Copyrights do not extend to titles, so Pérez was able to use the Chronicle title.[9]

What Can(t) Wait (2011)

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Main article: What Can't Wait

What Can(t) Wait is a young adult novel published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Lab.[10] The story portrays a Mexican American teenage girl living in Houston who is torn between the demands of her family and her ambitions for the future. Karen Coats of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books wrote that this novel portrays how many immigrant families do not want their teenagers to absorb Americanized attitudes even though the immigrants came to the U.S. to get a better life.[11]

Out of Darkness (2015)

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Main article: Out of Darkness (novel)

Out of Darkness is a historical young adult novel published September 1, 2015 by Carolrhoda Lab. The novel chronicles a love affair between a teenage Mexican-American girl and a teenage African-American boy in 1930s New London, Texas, occurring right up to the 1937 New London School explosion.[12]

Perez initially expected to receive pushback for Out of the Darkness but did not receive any for the first several years following publication; instead, the book was well-received by critics and won a few national awards.[13] However, in 2021, the book became the fourth-most banned and challenged book in the United States in 2021, according to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.[14] Challengers "[b]anned, challenged, and restricted" the book because of its "depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit."[14]

Awards and honors

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In 2012, the American Library Association (ALA) nominated What Can(t) Wait for the annual list of Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.[15] In 2015, the selected The Knife and the Butterfly for their list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults.[16] In 2016, they included Out of Darkness on their list of the year's Best Fiction for Young Adults.[17] The following year, Booklist included it on their list of the "50 Best YA Books of All Time".[18]

Year Title Award Result Ref.
2013 “3:17” Observer short story contest Winner [19]
2016 Out of Darkness Américas Award Winner [20]
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist [21]
Michael L. Printz Award Honor [22][23]
Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children's Book Award Winner [24]

Publications

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Novels

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  • The Knife and the Butterfly (2011)
  • What Can’t Wait (2011)
  • Out of Darkness (2015)

Short stories and essays

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  • "The 'Nice Girl' Feminist" in Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, edited by Kelly Jensen (2017)
  • "5 Tips for 'Nice Girl' Feminists" in Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, edited by Kelly Jensen (2017)
  • "What Home Is" in Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America, edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (2020)

References

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  1. ^ a b Sinn, Jessica (August 10, 2015). "A Q&A with English Alumna Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of 'Out of Darkness'". ShelfLife@Texas. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Sinn, Jessica (February 14, 2012). "A Q&A with Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of "The Knife and the Butterfly"". ShelfLife@Texas. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Ashley Perez". Ohio State University. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Ward, Allison. "Banned Books Week has new meaning for Columbus author whose novel was challenged". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "About Ashley Hope Pérez". www.ashleyperez.com. June 24, 2019. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  6. ^ "About". Ashley Hope Pérez. September 8, 2015. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  7. ^ "The Knife and the Butterfly". Kirkus Reviews. December 13, 2011. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  8. ^ Pérez, Ashley Hope (2012). The knife and the butterfly. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Lab. ISBN 978-0-7613-8728-2. OCLC 778448365.
  9. ^ "A Q&A with Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of “The Knife and the Butterfly”" (Archive). The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved on November 7, 2015.
  10. ^ "What Can't Wait". Kirkus Reviews. January 25, 2011. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  11. ^ Coats, Karen (2011). "What Can(t) Wait (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 64 (8): 388. ISSN 1558-6766. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  12. ^ "Out of Darkness". Kirkus Reviews. May 6, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  13. ^ Ward, Allison (October 2, 2021). "Banned Books Week has new meaning for Columbus author whose novel was challenged". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Communications and Marketing Office (April 4, 2022). "National Library Week kicks off with State of America's Libraries Report, annual 'Top 10 Most Challenged Books' list and a new campaign to fight book bans". American Library Association. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  15. ^ "2012 Quick Picks Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). December 5, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  16. ^ "2015 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). January 26, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  17. ^ "Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2016". Booklist. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  18. ^ Kraus, Daniel (June 1, 2017). "Booklist's 50 Best YA Books of All Time". Booklist. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  19. ^ "Ashley Hope Perez". The Texas Observer. February 4, 2016. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  20. ^ "Award Winners @ CLASP, Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs". Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  21. ^ "The Walden Award". ALAN. July 30, 2021. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  22. ^ "Ashley Hope Pérez | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. August 10, 2016. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  23. ^ "Printz Honor Books: 2016". Booklist. January 11, 2016. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Department of Comparative Studies (March 3, 2016). "Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez Wins Award". Ohio State University. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
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