Mexican High

by Liza Monroy

Book Overview

The daughter of an American diplomat, Mila has spent her childhood moving from country to country. When her mother is reassigned to Mexico City for Mila's senior year of high school, Mila has no idea... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385523599
• ISBN13: 9780385523592
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

So real!

I have to admit that I mainly bought this book because I actually went to the high school in Mexico City which Monroy attended, and on which the book's fictional high school is "loosely based." Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find a book that portrays beautifully the real Mexico City, not just the Mexico City that tourists "fall in love" with and then write about superficially. Monroy captures the addictive quality of Mexico city, while also telling an engaging story full of multidimensional characters. I bought it on the day it came out and could not put it down until I finished it that very night. Highly recommend it to anyone.

Destined to Become a Cult Classic

As someone who travels to Mexico City often for my work, I wanted to read this, but after finishing I felt like I got to look through a window into a whole new exciting world. I saw Mexican High described as similar to Prep, but a U.S. boarding school can't hold a "vela" (candle) to ISM, the fictional International School of Mexico, where students are confronted with political assassinations, every kind of drug imaginable, "lunch" parties (called "comidas") thrown by the school student council where there is tequila, rum, vodka, etc but no food. These teenagers may live at home, but they have drivers, maids, and bodyguards more present than parents. Mexican High is an ambitious true-to-life portrayal of what it feels like to be the child of a diplomat, never really knowing the concept of home or a homeland. It also captures a rich landscape of a true 21st-century megalopolis. The "fresas" -- children of Mexico's small ruling wealthy minority, a handful of powerful people who actually run the country -- are very much more than Mean Girls; they embody an entire social class and type. I especially loved learning about the kind of life high schoolers lead in Mexico City. Set in the early nineties when the peso devalued greatly, Mila and her friends can get away with anything by bribing the police. There is no acknowledged drinking age. There is danger and crime, and nothing, not even kidnappings or robberies, are what they seem. These are teens with the freedoms of adults, which makes for tension, drama, and climactic scenes that blew me away and left me rooting for Milagro -- or Mila, as she prefers to be called. I wondered whether Mexican High was a memoir disguised as a novel. What IS certain: whether fact or fiction, this debut is a literary gem that appears to be cleverly disguised as a breezy summer book. No senores y senoras, it is not. As the cover humorously shows the reader, this is a novel with legs, and they will take it the extra mile. Mexican High is almost too real, too painful, too poignant, that I couldn't believe Monroy is only in her twenties. I thought she was older, though in her jacket picture she looks about nineteen. I am curious what she will come up with next! From her life seems she already has a big supply of material. If this book does not become a run-away best-seller, it will be noticed for its accomplished writing and original story that takes the reader to an incredible, exotic setting with characters that will stick in your memory.

How do you say "Hollywood-bound" en espanol?

If ever there were a book with cinematic potential, this is it. MH is a fantastic ride from beginning to end, but I have to add that Monroy's pacing is so perfect and her images, so sharp, that I hope the talent scouts are poised to make an offer before the producers of "Gossip Girl" ante-up. In any event, this debut novel is as hip and fun, as it is painfully raw and real. Monroy is the real deal, and she's poised for a brilliant career.

You don't have to be in Mexico to get High, but it sure helps.

"Mexican High" is a coming of age story with a lime chaser, plumbing not only the depths of teen angst, but so too more pertinent issues like class, race, culture, drugs, crime, corruption, and immigration. Set in the maze of Mexico City, Monroy's Milagro raises a pointed question: "How much of our crime is compounded by the laws we pass to prevent it?" Readers of smart literary fiction should not be deterred by the chick-lit cover...this thoughtful, articulate debut is anything but...it's right up there with Jhumpa Lahiri and other top multicultural writings.

so true

If someone can identify with this book, it is definitely me. I moved from the U.S. to Mazatlan, Mexico in the early 90s during my junior year in high school. Even though we did not move to Mexico City and did not do the extraordinary things Mila does in this story, I can tell you the class distinctions, mexican excesses, political issues, insecure environment, and colorful details in this story are certainly to the point and very real. Monroy manages to bring us the young adult culture that still exists today. I really like the way she sort of gave a soundtrack to the book by mentioning songs and bands from the time like Nirvana, Radiohead, blind melon and others. She made me remember my journey and struggle in my late mexican high school years all the way through my college years.