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| Mexican High: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Liza Monroy
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $10.65
You Save: $11.30 (51%)
Buy New/Used from $10.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  (20 reviews)
Sales Rank: 77792
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.8
ISBN: 0385523599
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780385523592
ASIN: 0385523599
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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 what to expect. Mexico seems to be a country with the ultimate freedoms: the wealthy students at her private international school?the sons and daughters of Mexico?s ruling class?party hard at exclusive clubs, dress in expensive clothing, and see more of their housekeepers than they do their globe-trotting parents. But Mila has more in common with them than they know: her father, whose identity has been kept from her, is a high-ranking politician with whom Mila?s mother had a one-night stand in her hippie days. Now Mila is determined to discover who he is, whatever the cost may be.
A novel that covers the same adolescent terrain as Prep, though in an entirely different landscape, Mexican High is an eye-opening, page-turning coming-of-age story about identity, belonging, and first love. In a setting rife with sex, drugs, and political corruption, it is also a revealing look at elite Mexican society, and its freedoms, dangers, and excesses. Monroy?s flawless evocation of the brink of adulthood, in many ways mirrored by the turmoil of Mexico City itself, makes this a truly memorable debut.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
a compelling and exotic coming-of-age novel September 23, 2008
Monroy's debut novel, Mexican High, is a dark and wise coming of age novel. The protagonist, Mila Marquez, attends high school in Mexico City, along with the children of drug lords, foreign service officers and Mormon missionaries.
Monroy's vivid descriptions of Mexico City evoke a dark setting perfect for the situations her protagonist finds herself in. She experiments with drugs and sex while trying on several identities. This is more than a rendering of drugs and sex. It's also a story of a young woman struggling for independence from her loving, if distrustful mother.
I read it in one afternoon, unable to put it down. Highly recommended.
Excellent, but not for the faint of heart September 17, 2008
As a non-drug user and one who has spent little time in Mexico, I was not sure how I would like this book. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are lots of drugs featured, and yes, quite a bit of sex too. Yet, this coming of age novel also has a lot of heart, and a real story. The main character, in spite of her indulgences, is likable and very real. I could not put this down.
 drugs drugs and drugs August 29, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I started this novel and thought well of the writer's way of putting everything assuming the age of the character and potential readers, and novelties not only of Mexico but life itself until the description of drug experiences overwhelmed me and made me think What made this book so popular?
I picked it at the local library marked as New Novel worth reading and glad did not spend a penny on it. Sure doing drugs might be so fun and exciting especially under the "missing Dad" excuses but it does not make it a good piece of literature for me.
been there August 24, 2008
Same school, different era. Liza Munroy captures a completely familiar high school social scene except for the drugs. I remember that drinking was totally accessible and in excess during my years at "Mexican High." So was fun. With JFK being shot in November of our junior year and worldwide socio-political upheaval gathering momentum, we of the class of '65 still managed to remain self-absorbed except for our fearless president of student council who became boisterously pro-Goldwater. Is that why he still resides in high school (now in upstate New York) as a Spanish teacher? God bless Roberto. I managed only 20 years in a similar teaching role in an equally remote state and am now retired. Although Munroy never mentioned whether or not Young Life continues at our alma mater, I read each page of this riveting tale as a memoir... if not Liza's, mine.
read and re-read! August 15, 2008
a lit. critic i am not, but I LOVE this book! I read it outloud while nursing my newborn, which was a great way to really hear and appreciate Ms. Monoy's voice. Mila is a layered and real character, her adventures made me cringe, laugh and cry...and perhaps slightly nostalgic for my own high school days (and love affair with Nirvana.) The last time I turned pages this quickly, I was reading The Lovely Bones. I will be anxiously awaiting Ms. Monroy's next book!
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