'I AM Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter' novel by Chicago-area author to receive film adaptation

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter." More than a statement, it's the title of the best-selling novel of Cicero-born Erika Sánchez.

"I was like, this book needs to be written or else I'm going to combust," said Sánchez.

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It tells the story of a rebellious, literature-obsessed teenage daughter of Mexican immigrants living in Chicago.

"It really mattered to me to create that book for girls like me," said Sánchez. "I had no clue that there were so many young women like me out in the world, not just in the United States but everywhere who relate to this character."

From book to screen, the storyline is now set to become a movie directed by Hollywood Latina superstar America Ferrera.

The protagonist is Julia, a Chicago high school student whose dream is to be a writer. But she's met with the sudden and tragic death of her more perfect and older sister Olga.

RELATED | ABC7 celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with special Our Chicago: Lideres Innovadores

"People ask me, am I Julia? And the answer is yes and no," explained Sánchez. "And not everything in the book is autobiographical but it is very rooted in truth and the truth of my experience."

Part of that experience is they both share the struggles of overcoming mental health issues.

"It's really, really frustrating to navigate the world with this heavy, heavy rock inside of you. And so it was important for me to depict it in a very authentic, real way," said Sánchez.

Sánchez has been named an Executive Director of the film, granting her lots of creative control. That includes deciding where the movie will be set.

"Oh, it has to be Chicago. It must be Chicago. And it will be Chicago," proclaimed Sánchez.

Readers will recall a certain used book store in the city's Wicker Park neighborhood. That's where Julia submerses herself in the literary world and has a chance encounter with love. Sánchez herself has been perusing its aisles since high school.

"Myopic Books, I hope to film in there," Sánchez said.

Her own book is now on the store's shelf as well as others worldwide.

"I never in my life could I have imagined that it would have taken off in the way that it has," said Sánchez. "It feels like I'm in a movie myself."

And now a mother. Sánchez finds herself in a perfect blended family that includes a loving husband, stepson, stepdaughter and 3-year-old daughter named Sojourner.

"My little beautiful Blaxican daughter, she's going to have a whole different experience," said Sánchez. "She's going to, you know, be as free as possible in this society."

"I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" is one of three books Sánchez has published.

Her fourth book will be a children's book. And she's currently working on yet another novel about her mother and father's generation.

ABC7's Hispanic Heritage Month special "Our Chicago: Lideres Innovadores" airs Sunday at 11 p.m. with an encore presentation Sunday, October 6 at 4:30 p.m.