Just Like Us: the True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America by Helen Thorpe

Just Like Us: the True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America by Helen Thorpe was my Book Club's May selection. 

This book was an especially good choice for our group as we live in an area with a high Latino population that is struggling with how to handle immigration issues.  Additionally, Thorpe is a "local" author in the sense that she now lives in Colorado.  Her husband is Govener Hickenlooper, although at the time this book was written he was the Mayor of Denver and a successful businessman. 

This non-fiction work shadows four girls attending the same Denver area high school from the night of their Sr. Prom through the changes that follow their graduation.  All the girl's families came here from Mexico illegally.  Two girls have documents and two don't although they have all grown up here and want to stay.

Sometimes you forget that this is non-fiction.  For instance when a policeman is killed by an illegal immigrant who works at a resturaunt owned by Hickenlooper. 

This book has many themes, growing up, identity, poverty, immigration laws, and how relationships change as we leave school for a larger, more complex world.  It is an ideal candidate for a book club discussion and could be used very effectively in a high school classroom. 

As a side note, I attended a talk given by Thorpe a couple of years ago.  It was the most diverse audience I have ever been in for a book talk.  Ages ranged from young teens to elderly.  The majority of attendees were female but many men were in the audience as well.  The ethnic background seemed to be almost equally split between Latino and non-Latino. 

Although many of us consider summer a time for easy "beach reads" I know you will be glad you read Just Like Us this summer.