Far from Gringo Land

Rick jumps at the opportunity to spend his seventeenth summer in a Mexican barrio. He'll be able to improve his Spanish, live with family friends, and help them build a real house on their property. He's confident that he will learn a lot about life in a completely different culture. He learns quickly that the Romeros are a struggling family who put their guest as their priority even if it means they go without. He doesn't even mind being called a "gringo" by the locals. The construction project quickly turns out to be the hardest thing Rick has ever done in more ways than one. Physically, he's never been so tired and sore in his life. The family has invested all their time and money to create a home and it seems like they are running out of both. Will they be able to finish it before the rainy season? Rick spends what little free time he has with Ellen, an American who is vacationing at her father's elaborate home. It seems worlds away from the barrio. They meet secretly for a while, and once Rick introduces her to his new "family", the cultural and social differences seem like an elephant in the room. Can they get past these to truly get to know each other? This was a wonderful book. I highly recommend it! Reviewed by: hoopsielv

It's not often that I get the opportunity to read fiction books about a white teenager going to Mexico to help build a house so just the unique plot of the book made me want to pick it up. What I found fascinating almost immediately was that I had to dust off my eight years of Spanish because I kept ignoring English translations to see if I could understand what the Spanish speakers were saying. I love fiction books that educate me. It's the best of both worlds. As far as the book, the plot is basically about Rick Dresnser coming to visit some family friends, a Mexican family who his parents know, to help them build a safer and bigger home than the mediocre one they live in now. Rick learns the tough work involved in manual labor and realizes how lucky he is to have the basic essentials, even something as small as being able to drive a car up to the front of his hometown house but not in this Mexican town. From the type of work he was doing, I'm pretty positive Rick came back diesel! And when he met a young lady named Ellen who remarked on his physique, this confirmed my assumption. The relationship with Ellen was a little conflicted. Her father was overprotective about her going into the poor towns of the community, but Ellen was tired of just hanging out in a mansion with a swimming pool. Rick was her way to escape whenever she could get away. I enjoyed their cute and innocent relationship trying to get to know each other. I have zero interest in manual labor and won't even go through the trouble of putting items I buy in stores together, but surprisingly I was fascinated with Julio's (the father of the Mexican family) explanation of how to build a ceiling. I always wondered how that worked. Actually, the whole family, including extended family members, were interesting to read about. The only problem I had with this book was I never got a clear understanding of why Rick was so disrespectful to his parents. He treated the Romeros with very careful consideration, courtesy and always tried to be a team player. But he talked to his parents like they were ignorant children. It went from being odd to just flat out annoying. It made me not like Rick as much as I'd have liked to, and I wanted his parents to finally take some authority over this young man regardless of him being in another country. Or, at least watch his tone. But nevertheless, great read. I highly recommend it. One of the strongest scenes was toward the end when a townee walked by Rick and made a comment that showed Rick that no matter how much work he did and no matter how comfortable he was, there's always someone to challenge him (or anybody, for that matter). But that's life.

Edward Myers' effort in "Far from Gringo Land" should be required reading for student in Spanish. Why? It's an excellent insight into the views that people living in the North (The U.S or Los Estados Unidos - if you prefer) and Mexico may share (or may not). Fairly accurately, I might add. With the interaction that Richard has with the Romeros' family, he deals with issues of language, custom and family. While growing up, to boot! I'll not give the story away. You (or a teenager you know) should obtain this book and read on... I rate this excellent book: Five stas!!

Edward Myers has produced a literary work of eye-opening proportions. "Far from Gringo Land" stirs your heart and mind as it follows a young man coming into his own on an adventure in the truths and justice of multiple cultures far from home. Rick Dresner finds himself in the barrios of Mexico (by choice), working like a donkey, finding a new family, struggling with his own life choices, and falling for a girl who is trying to do the same. This book is an excellent and stunning example of the conflicting emotional, cultural, and physical differences in the lifestyle of Americans and Mexicans in their perspective countries. This book will do well in middle school and high school classrooms as a unique Language Arts, social studies, and cultural learning tool. Highly recommended!

"'I'm sure you did just fine,' Mom says. Annoyance passes over Rick like a wave of nausea." Ouch, how's that for a conversation stopper to shoot at one's adolescent son? I'm guilty; been there/said that. And this long distance phone conversation is just one instance of how "Far from Gringo Land" rings true. I'm not a young adult, but I once was, and I raised two of them. This coming-of-age book will appeal to both you and your tween-agers. Not every high school senior will have an opportunity to spend a summer laboring on a home construction project in a Mexican barrio (and what a loss to those who don't!). But every one of them has been thinking for years about approaching adulthood, making their own decisions, and the push and pull of parents more or less letting them go. "Gringo Land's" Rick is awash in that same sea of ambivalence--love, guilt, annoyance, fear, deception. Poor fellow spends more than a little time with a Spanish dictionary looking for the words to explain his crush on an American gringa to his Mexican hosts; Myers does a masterful job, once again, of inserting Spanish plus translations into the text as Rick considers 'amante' (lover), 'amor brujo' (to be bewitched), and 'andar de volada' (to flirt). Myers also handles the culture gap with a perfect touch as Rick grapples with poverty, generosity, pride, and prejudice. He shares the workload, works on his Spanish skills, awkwardly contributes to the family finances, and receives gratitude, indifference, warmth, and even a "Vete gringo" (get lost!) attitude from the Mexican neighbors. Most importantly, Rick struggles to understand the unspoken feelings of those around him, why the tension at times, why anger, why ambivalence when he really means so well. And he discovers, to his surprise, that "he chose to spend the summer in Mexico partly to get away from family hassles...yet here he is, dealing with another family in almost the same ways he deals with his own." Thanks, Mr. Myers. "Que gran cosa han hecho." What a great thing you've done.