 Sánchez was born in 1957 in Mexico City, to parents of German and Cuban heritage; his family emigrated to the U.S. in 1962.He studied writing at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, under Michael Cunningham, Richard McCann, Allan Gurganus, Peter Ho Davies, Michael Klein, Elizabeth McCracken, and Jacqueline Woodson.Sánchez's works explore themes of love, friendship, coming of age, and LGBT questioning youth.