Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Jennifer de Leon (BORDERLESS)!
Meet the Author: Jennifer de Leon
Jennifer De Leon is an author, editor, speaker, and creative writing professor who lives outside of Boston. She is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, the 2015–2016 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library, and a 2016–2017 City of Boston Artist-in-Residence. She is also the second recipient of the We Need Diverse Books grant. She is the author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From and Borderless.
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About the Book: BORDERLESS
Caught in the crosshairs of gang violence, a teen girl and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US border in this heart-wrenching young adult novel from the author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From.
For seventeen-year-old Maya, trashion is her passion, and her talent for making clothing out of unusual objects landed her a scholarship to Guatemala City’s most prestigious art school and a finalist spot in the school’s fashion show. Mamá is her biggest supporter, taking on extra jobs to pay for what the scholarship doesn’t cover, and she might be even more excited than Maya about what the fashion show could do for her future career.
So when Mamá doesn’t come to the show, Maya doesn’t know what to think. But the truth is worse than she could have imagined. The gang threats in their neighborhood have walked in their front door—with a boy Maya considered a friend, or maybe more, among them. After barely making their escape, Maya and her mom have no choice but to continue their desperate flight all the way through Guatemala and Mexico in hopes of crossing the US border.
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~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
In the summer of 2018, when I was pregnant with my second son, I could not keep my eyes off screens that showed children being torn away from their parents, especially mothers, at the U.S./Mexico border. It pained me not to join others at rallies and protest the “zero tolerance” immigration enforcement policy which affected many Central American people. My people. For me, the news was personal. Both my parents are from Guatemala. They moved to the United States in the 1970s in search of a better life, like so many immigrants do. Although I could not march in the streets in 2018, I decided to begin writing this novel. It was my own way of marching.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
Definitely the novel! A friend helped me come up with the title late in the game. I’m so grateful to him!
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
Hands down, the most important thing I have learned as a writer is that writing is a process. I honestly used to think that if I were a better writer, a stronger one, that I would get it “right” in the first draft. I thought revision was a bad thing. The whole red pen and all…So, once I learned to embrace the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, writing, revising, revising, revising), I started to relax a bit more, and thus, the writing flourished. I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self to not put so much pressure on herself. The stories will bloom; it just takes time and effort.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Oh, I love this question. I love the cover, and I think the illustrator Krystal Quiles did a fabulous job with it. What I especially appreciate is the fact that there is a quetzal on the cover of the book. I have never seen a book –certainly not contemporary YA—with a quetzal on the cover. The quetzal is the national bird in Guatemala, where the story takes place, and where my parents are from, so it has extra meaning to me.
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
I’m reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson—Adapted for Young Adults. It’s fascinating to be reminded of and in many cases learn new facts about the history of race in the United States and the caste systems here and around the world. I love that this book has a version for teens, too.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I am currently working on another YA novel about a teen girl named Luz Morales who goes from being a socialite in Guatemala City to a guerrilla soldier in the Guatemalan Civil War in the early 1960s in hopes of finding her missing twin brother.
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
Yes! The Humanitarian Respite Center (with locations in McAllen and El Paso, Texas) and Border Kindness. Both are excellent organizations that provide asylum-seekers, refugees, and the displaced with food, shelter, clothing, transportation and in some cases, medical and legal services.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
I love this quote by author Alan Watt: “It is not our job to get it right! We’re merely channels. Our job is to inquire. Let’s leave the heavy lifting to our subconscious. Our job is to be kind to ourselves and to show up every day on the page. As we inquire, our story tells us all we need to know in time.”
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
Thank you for taking the time to ask these thoughtful questions and thank you for sharing Borderless with your community. I really appreciate it!
Title: BORDERLESS
Author: Jennifer de Leon
Release Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: S&S Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Genre: Contemporary YA
Age Range: 14+
