It’s really refreshing to find an author who speaks honestly to the reader, doesn’t judge, and is on your side. Liza Monroy, the author of Mexican High, is that rare type of writer. In the story, Mila follows her American Diplomat mom across the world as she goes from city to city. They move to Mexico City the summer before Mila’s senior year of high school, and once again she is forced to adapt to a new environment. This time the stakes are higher, as her new prep school is full of cliques that are as impermeable as the barbed wire fences that surround the campus. Mila’s strategy for finding friends is simple: mold herself to fit into these specific stereotypes, no matter the cost.
In this unsupervised world where parents disappear for weeks at a time and teenagers are left to their own devices, Mila is forced to confront a whole new set of issues. Mila slowly loses her innocence by saying yes: yes to drugs, yes to sex, and yes to adapting to the new ways while simultaneously leaving behind everything she’d previously held dear. Her experiences are sped up because life in Mexico City moves at warp-speed and, according to the book, is fueled by crime, corruption, and promiscuity. Mila finds an outlet in the school newspaper, and uses writing as a method for managing her complicated emotions. I bet Monroy chose to write this novel for similar reasons: as a means of both sharing her story with others and sorting out these past experiences for herself.
Mexican High is different from the hundreds of prep school sagas and Gossip Girl copycats out there today. Yes, it deals with friend drama, romance, and other issues that go hand-in-hand with growing up, but it covers so much more than that. Monroy—herself a former globetrotting teen—understands how hard it can be to find friends in a school where nobody seems to be open to newcomers. She paints a picture of Mila’s loneliness that is so perfect and realistic that anyone can relate, regardless of if you’ve ever been to a new school.
My favorite aspect of the novel is the fact that it is so true to life. Mila is in no way a perfect protagonist, but that is actually what I liked best about her. She doesn’t learn from her mistakes right away and has to keep making them until she finally gets a grip. It’s not until Mila is on the verge of losing her best friend, Nora, that she ultimately attempts to change.
Monroy acknowledges that high school is hard, but it can also be incredibly exciting. This is the main difference between Mexican High and other books I’ve read; while Monroy does not sugarcoat Mila’s experiences, she still describes them with a sense of optimism and confidence that everything will work out. As dark as Mila’s life becomes at certain times (think dealing with false rumors at school or losing her soon-to-be stepfather), she never loses hope, and realizes that she was actually never completely alone. In fact, one of the benefits of moving so many times is that she has a network of supporters across the globe. Monroy’s clear narrative and fast-paced story make Mexican High a perfect summer read for anyone who’s sick of the typical teen novel. —Liza Darwin
Let us know what you thought about Mexican High in the comments section, and don’t forget to start reading these upcoming ELLEgirl Book Club picks:
June 25: Looks by Madeleine George
July 2: Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler
July 9: Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks
July 16: Crushworthy by Sara Lawrence
You sold me, I am a globetrotting teen myself. I think i might just pick it up
Posted by: Giuli | June 20, 2008 at 03:18 PM