The Knife and the Butterfly
First edition cover
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| Author | Ashley Hope Pérez |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult fiction |
| Set in | Houston, Texas |
| Published | 2011 by Carolrhoda Books |
| Media type | Print Ebook |
| Pages | 209 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 742305900 |
| FIC | |
| LC Class | PZ7.P4255 |
The Knife and the Butterfly is a 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 a White girl named Lexi, is based on a 2006 gang-related death in that city.
The novel, set in Houston, is about a 15-year old Salvadoran American MS-13 gang member named Martín "Azael" Arevalo. He wakes up in a prison cell and observes 17-year old White American Alexis "Lexi" Allen, who is member of another gang, Crazy Crew. As the novel unfolds he begins to recover his memory and learn whether the upcoming trial will be his or hers. Azael slowly gains sympathy for Lexi, even though he originally hates her. The book reveals that on June 16, 2011 Azael died in a gang fight in Montrose, at Ervan Chew Park. Lexi had killed him; she initially maintains self-defense at the trial, but confesses to wanting to prove herself to Crazy Crew, and that Azael was not actually trying to kill her.
This novel was based on the 2006 death of Gabriel Granillo. The title originates from the Houston Chronicle series The Butterfly and the Knife, which chronicled the real life 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.
Pérez, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a teacher at Chávez High School in Houston, researched MS-13 and Houston's Salvadoran community. One aspect in the novel is the differing use of Spanish. The younger Salvadoran Americans have influence from other Spanish dialects while the older ones have signature elements of Salvadoran Spanish such as the use of "vos".
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