Ashley Hope Pérez is an American author. Notable books include ''

The Knife and the Butterfly ''The Knife and the Butterfly'' is a young adult fiction, young adult novel by Ashley Hope Pérez, 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 ...

'' (2011), '' What Can(t) Wait'' (2011), and '' Out of Darkness'' (2015).

Personal life and education

Pérez grew up in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

, approximately 20 minutes away from

New London, Texas New London is a city in Rusk County, Texas, Rusk County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,181 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New London was originally known as just "London", but because Kimble County, Texas, Kimble Co ...

, the setting of ''Out of Darkness''. Pérez attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. In 2014, she earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, where she studied

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

with a focus on Latin American literature. Pérez currently lives in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

with her two sons.

Career

Early in her career, Pérez taught

English Language Arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a distin ...

at César E. Chávez High School in Houston, which is where she "—as a white woman—became passionate about stories that center Latinx lives." Aside from writing, Pérez is an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

in the Department of Comparative Studies at The

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. In her research, she "is interested in the ethical implications of how we tell, read, mediate, and interpret narratives."

Books

''The Knife and the Butterfly'' (2011)

''The Knife and the Butterfly'' is a

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

novel published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Books. The novel, which explores the lives of two teenage gang members in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, a Hispanic boy named Azael and a White girl named Lexi, is based on the 2006

death of Gabriel Granillo On June 6, 2006,Rogers, Brian.3 years after gang killing, teen wants to 'move on'Archive. ''Houston Chronicle''. Thursday September 17, 2009. Retrieved on November 12, 2015. a teenage boy named Gabriel Granillo also known as Pelón was stabbed t ...

. The title originates from the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' 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.A Q&A with Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of “The Knife and the Butterfly”

Archive
.

The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. Retrieved on November 7, 2015.

''What Can(t) Wait'' (2011)

''What Can(t) Wait'' is a

novel published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Lab. The story portrays a

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

teenage girl living in

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 ''The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'' is an academic journal established in 1945 by Frances E. Henne ( University of Chicago Graduate Library School).Wedgeworth, Robert. ''World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services''. C ...

'' 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.

''Out of Darkness'' (2015)

''Out of Darkness'' is a

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

novel published September 1, 2015 by Carolrhoda Lab. The novel chronicles a love affair between a teenage

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

girl and a teenage

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

boy in 1930s

, occurring right up to the 1937

New London School explosion The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion and destroyed the London School in New London, Texas, United States. The disaster killed 295 students and teachers. , the event is the third- ...

. 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. 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 The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Challengers " nned, challenged, and restricted" the book because of its "depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit."

Awards and honors

In 2012, the

(ALA) nominated ''What Can(t) Wait'' for the annual list of

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile), ...

. In 2015, the selected ''The Knife and the Butterfly'' for their list of

Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults was an annual list of popular books geared toward young adult readers, collated by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), which was published from 1988 to 2017. The aim of the list was "to encoura ...

. In 2016, they included ''Out of Darkness'' on their list of the year's

Best Fiction for Young Adults The American Library Association's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommended list of books presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Ad ...

. The following year, ''Booklist'' included it on their list of the "50 Best YA Books of All Time".

Publications

Novels

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

Short stories and essay

*"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

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Ashley Hope Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ohio State University faculty Indiana University Bloomington alumni