The author of My Side of the River, a new memoir which she describes as a love story between an older sister and a younger brother forging their path ahead. Elizabeth grew up in Tucson, Arizona, in a Mexican neighborhood and found herself homeless in the U.S. when her parents were denied visas and forced to leave the country. She recently shared her insights with us, including her response to the negative comments she has received since her book was published.
What is your favorite part or favorite way to be Latina?
Being Latina is part of my personality; it’s part of who I am. One of the things that I appreciate is our emphasis on family. Sometimes we emphasize family to our detriment and individual growth. Still, families and communities can help lift and combat the loneliness affecting so many people. It’s something that we can’t take for granted.
You have many talents. What is the superpower that has helped you get to where you are?
I’m a chameleon. I’m naturally introverted, but when I need to, I can turn on the charm and be loud and present. Being somebody that you can’t overlook has helped me get ahead. Also, when you’re the only Latina, the youngest, or have a weird background and don’t know who’s important around you, you speak to everybody as your peer. Being honest and vulnerable in these spaces has ultimately gotten me closer to the people that I need to be closer to.
You just wrote an incredible memoir- My Side of the River- who did you write it for?
Many people who write memoirs say they’re for the younger version of themselves. In my case, it’s for my younger brother, who’s seven years younger than me, and for his friends and my friends’ younger siblings who are taking on this world, sometimes without somebody to look up to or to guide them. I didn’t have an older sibling and had to figure everything out myself. I wish I had mentorship or even an understanding that paths aren’t linear and that you need to find your way in whatever way works for you.
For people who have yet to read it, how do you describe it?
The book is a love story to the city of Tucson, Arizona, and it’s a love story between an older sister and a younger brother forging their path ahead. It’s about my life. I grew up in Tucson, about an hour north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It is a beautiful desert city that feels like a small town, but it’s pretty large, and for a desert, it’s quite green. This book is about me growing up in a Mexican immigrant neighborhood to Mexican immigrants. And what happens when, at 15, my parents had their visas denied, and I became a statistic and ended up homeless in the United States? I’m a U.S. citizen, and my brother was too. But when your parents disappear, what happens?
You share very personal details of your life in this memoir. Did you have any hesitation in doing so, and how did you know it was the right time to share?
Writing about your family is hard at any stage in your life. I wanted this memoir to be as accurate of a depiction as I could get to of who we were as whole people- flawed and beautiful. I don’t think it will ever feel like a good time to do that because it requires vulnerability. One of the pieces of feedback that I got from my editors was that I could be more vulnerable, and I was like, I don’t know how. Book deals are also so ephemeral and hard to get, and when things like this happen, I take the opportunity. I don’t question the timing. As far as writing about my parents, I tried to show them as whole people. Every family has skeletons in the closet, and people don’t discuss them. It’s that pain and shame that holds us back from growing and from helping younger generations learn from the problems of their past.
Will we see part 2 of your story in a few years?
I don’t know, but I don’t think this is my last book. I burned myself out and read too many of my Goodreads reviews. Some negative ones are that her voice was so young, or she’s so egocentric that she should have waited 10 years to process it and have more insight. I get that; I get the sentiment of waiting and processing your feelings. But again, this book was for people like my brother, and I wanted it to be in a voice that was accessible to them. The best way to do that is to do it while I’m young. The point is that it is for kids who feel like every little decision and everything they do can be the end of the world.
In your recent professional life, you worked in finance for a few years before switching to tech. Why did that, and how did you do it?
I worked in finance until the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and I realized it wasn’t my path. I don’t think anybody grows up wanting to become a banker- it’s more something that happens. I needed money, and I needed to support my brother and myself, but once I realized it wasn’t my path, I started looking for ways to get out of the industry. I entered the rotational product manager program at Meta. It was a year-and-a-half-long program. I got to work across Instagram, Facebook, video, A.R., and Marketplace. Then, I got a full-time product manager position. I’m still junior, so everything I do still feels new and novel, and I’m happy right now.
Who is someone else we should feature in our newsletter?
Carla Cornejo Villavicencio. She’s the author of The Undocumented Americans, a beautifully written book about her story.