Introduction

Classifying the characters as nerds is not to suggest that there is something unique or unusual about Chicanas who enjoy reading, theater, writing poetry, or math. The ChicaNerds in the YA texts struggle with warring expectations of “appropriate” teenage girlhood in their working-class Chicanx families amid their own desires to excel in their studies and go on to college. This chapter examines largely use the high school setting as a subplot for the Chicana characters’ cultivation of a ChicaNerd identity, the protagonists’ academic pursuits often mirror the challenges faced by first-generation college students of color: struggles with imposter syndrome, including combating the all-too-familiar stereotype of the “at risk” Latina student. The chapter argues that the ChicaNerds insist on their inherent intelligence, resisting the tokenization of young women of color. It also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.