Ashley Hope Pérez

Ashley Hope Pérez is an American author.

Personal life and education

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

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]

Texts

The Knife and the Butterfly (2011)
Main article: The Knife and the Butterfly

The Knife and the Butterfly is a young adult novel published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Books. 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.[7]: 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.[8]

What Can(t) Wait (2011)
Main article: What Can't Wait

What Can(t) Wait is a young adult novel published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Lab. 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.[9]

Out of Darkness (2015)
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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12] Challengers "[b]anned, challenged, and restricted" the book because of its "depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit."[12]

Awards and honors
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2012 What Can't Wait Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers Nominee [13]
2013 “3:17” Observer short story contest Winner [14]
2015 The Knife and the Butterfly Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Selection [15]
2016 Out of Darkness Américas Award Winner [16]
2016 Out of Darkness Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist [17]
2016 Out of Darkness Michael L. Printz Award Honor [18]
2016 Out of Darkness Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children's Book Award Winner [19]

Publications

Novels

Short stories and essays
  • "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
  1. Sinn, Jessica (2015-08-10). "A Q&A with English Alumna Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of 'Out of Darkness'". ShelfLife@Texas. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  2. Sinn, Jessica (2012-02-14). "A Q&A with Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of "The Knife and the Butterfly"". ShelfLife@Texas. Archived from the original on 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  3. "Ashley Perez". Ohio State University. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  4. Ward, Allison. "Banned Books Week has new meaning for Columbus author whose novel was challenged". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  5. "About Ashley Hope Pérez". www.ashleyperez.com. 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  6. "About". Ashley Hope Pérez. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  7. Pérez, Ashley Hope (2012). The knife and the butterfly. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Lab. ISBN 978-0-7613-8728-2. OCLC 778448365.
  8. "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.
  9. Coats, Karen. "What Can(t) Wait" (Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review) The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2011, Vol.64(8), p.388(1). Available at Project MUSE.
  10. "Out of Darkness". Kirkus Reviews. 2015-05-06. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  11. Ward, Allison (2021-10-02). "Banned Books Week has new meaning for Columbus author whose novel was challenged". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  12. Communications and Marketing Office (2022-04-04). "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. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  13. "2012 Quick Picks Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  14. "Ashley Hope Perez". The Texas Observer. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  15. "2015 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  16. "Award Winners @ CLASP, Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs". Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  17. "The Walden Award". ALAN. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  18. "Ashley Hope Pérez | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  19. Department of Comparative Studies (2016-03-03). "Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez Wins Award". Ohio State University. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
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