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‘Mexican High’: Immersion into the steamy city

Posted on Thu, Jun. 26, 2008

By Kris Liaugminas

New York based author Liza Monroy has written articles for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Newsweek and Time Out New York. Now, she makes her literary debut with a stunning novel about adapting to change, belonging and life as a teenager in Mexico in Mexican High (Spiegel & Grau, $22).

Mila Marquez has spent her childhood bouncing around the world with her diplomat mother. After finally establishing herself at her high school in Washington, D.C., she desperately hopes that she has found the perfect normal American existence along with some stability for once.

Yet unbeknownst to Mila, her mother has other plans for her daughter’s last year of high school. After her mother is offered a promotion at the Embassy in Mexico City, Mila’s life in D.C. is displaced, and she quickly finds herself right in the middle of the gritty, sexy and delirious Mexican capital.

Mila is sent to study at an international school for the children of Mexico’s elite, where she becomes full immersed in the inner workings of Mexico’s upper echelons of power.

In a society that offers the children of the wealthy unlimited freedoms, Mila finds herself drawn into a new world of drugs, drinking, fashion, and the political scandals that affect her classmates’ families.

Exposed to the inequality among citizens in this chaotic country, she quickly comes to realize the contradiction that surrounds life in Mexico. Mila is immediately enthralled by the social and political turmoil, the horrible danger and the superstition that surrounds her there, and at the heart of Mila’s struggles in her new surroundings is the search for her father, a high-level Mexican politician whom her mother had a brief affair with long ago.

Laden with sex, drugs and rock and roll, Mexican High is a perfect read for the summertime. Liza Monroy presents us with a memorable narrative that is full of life, riveting in its drama, visually sumptuous and detailed.

Additionally, like Mila, author Monroy is the daughter of a U.S. Foreign Service Officer and spent her high school years attending an international school in Mexico City. Thus, much of the detail related in the novel is based on her own high school years as the daughter of a diplomat in Mexico City, resulting in characterizations of life in the city that feel genuine and inspired.

This is perhaps the greatest asset of the novel, as Monroy essentially becomes our tour-guide through one of the largest cities in the world while aptly capturing the uncertainty and excitement of the teenage years with her incredible protagonist, Mila. Heart-wrenching and captivating, the novel is sure to be talked about this summer.

Comments

Kris' review captures the heart and soul of this exciting debut novel.
MEXICAN HIGH reveals the world of contrasts, conflicts and adventures of a U.S. teenager in Mexico City. Monroy's novel brings to life the vibrant sights and sounds of Mexico through the eyes of Mila, a high school senior. With her we discover the realities of a country embued with a mystic Mayan past, jolting with the excesses of unrestrained, restless modern youth. You won't be able to put this book down! Highly recommended.

said Jeni Anne at 26-Jun-08 11:11 PM star

I'm already planning a trip to Mexico to experience some of the adventures in this book - searching for peyote, the great beaches and...enjoying "La Vida Loca"...a real hot read.

said Mario D. at 26-Jun-08 11:13 PM star

What a terrific debut novel! I couldn't put it down..a great detailed look at what it means to be a teenager in a different cultural setting - adapting and making the best of it. Monroy's descriptive passages of life in Mexico are first rate!

said Lori at 19-Aug-08 10:02 PM star

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