A powerful and inspiring memoir of growing up in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach. Acclaimed essayist Jaquira Díaz writes an unflinching account of growing up as a queer, biracial girl searching for home as her family splits apart and her mother struggles with mental illness and addiction. From her own struggles with depression and drug abuse to her experiences of violence to Puerto Rico's history of colonialism, every page vibrates with music and lyricism. Ordinary Girls is about fighting to be seen for who we really are. It's about girlhood in a dangerous world, about how we're not defined by the worst things we've ever done, and about surviving, even as we're losing the people we love.
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