City Reads: 3 Teen Books Set in Chicago

Sometimes it's all about the setting, and these three YA reads set in Chicago show there are many ways to use a city to help tell the story.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Olga was the perfect daughter and sister, but Julia is the one who is left behind - and, as the title states, she is not perfect. This story felt so real and present - when Julia takes the train to the crowded and eclectic bookstore in Wicker Park, I knew she was at Myopic Books - and the romance takes a backseat to the drama of finding out who Olga really was.

There were a few problematic details for this reader who grew up in a rural town where she *gasp* shared a room with her sister (which is, according to our narrator, a mark of being poor). I cannot stand when characters who have autonomy and live in CITIES say they need to escape - like, dude, just take the train to a museum or a library or the lake or a mall or a coffee shop or a book store or any number of grocery stores available to you...as someone who did not have any of those options growing up (besides a library, which was a godsend and lifesaver), complaints like this just sound like whining.

That being said, I get that teens can feel trapped regardless of where they are. They may not know who they are, or who their families are, or they may need to "get out" of whatever comfort zone (mental, physical, or emotional) they have to learn who they are and what they stand for - and Sanchez does a wonderful job of creating a narrator who I didn't always like, but who is consistent in her angst and self-discovery.

Neighborhood Girls by Jessie Ann Foley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having little in common with Wendy and Co. besides coming from a white Catholic family, I could still totally understand the need to leave your childhood neighborhood. Except I left to Chicago, but whatever. (See my review for IANYPMD above for my thoughts on city kids needing to escape.)

I loved that this book is firmly set in Chicago, in a specific neighborhood, and I’m glad Foley used that neighborhood to tell the story (ahem, writers who set their stories in “Chicago” and then disregard the city’s history and culture and basic aspects of its geography). The streets, trains, and old Polish ladies all feel very present. City kids who love their city (or enjoy the familiarity of it) and country kids who live vicariously through books with a real sense of place will both appreciate all the specific details.


I found the depiction of mean girl cliques just dramatic enough to be entertaining, and appreciated the themes of faith and belief using both Catholic icons and ghosts. The Our Lady of Lourdes imagery was great, and I love how extra people were about it. This shouldn’t be the only self-searching/faith-questioning/family drama/mean friends book in one’s collection, but there’s definitely an audience for it.


The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cisneros tells Esperanza's story in a series of connected yet distinct vignettes, each one a poetic snack. Every word, every phrase, every sentence says something - no throwaway details or flowery prose with no meaning. In the past, I've read selections from The House on Mango Street (which is a great way to scaffold learning for younger readers - while the book as a whole is appropriate for high school or college, I've seen sixth and seventh graders analyze certain chapters with brilliant insightfulness), but reading it cover to cover is a real treat. I saw Chicago on every page, and it was beautiful and complex.


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