Read if you like: short stories, own voices stories.
-
This collection explores the Mexican American experience and how different people reconcile these two aspects of identity. I usually just like reading short stories and don't usually love them, but I loved these stories! I usually want more out of the stories but these authors did an amazing job of getting their theme across in the short story. I appreciated reading different perspectives through these stories.
-
CW: sexism and racism.

There is no singular Mexican-American experience, and this concept is wonderfully captured in this collection of short stories, essays, poems, and mixed media. The selections are each wonderfully unique and will have you feeling all of the emotions.

Growing up Mexican in America, while each person has their own individual story, is an experience that many understand to be encapsulated by the famous speech from the Selena movie: you’re too Mexican for the Americans but too American for the Mexicans, always proving yourself and always torn between two cultures. It’s the experience that I myself relate to the most as a mixed person from a small border town, and it’s the stories that touched on this theme that I connected to the most in this collection.

This is a wonderful anthology of pieces discussing identify and self-reflection, and should be a must-read for young adults.

Living Beyond Borders celebrates and explores the Mexican American identity. It is an anthology of short stories, poems, essays and comics. Readers will feel seen, learn about someone unlike themselves, or both! This is a great book to absorb slowly and deliberately.

Living Beyond Borders is a celebration of Mexican American culture and identity through its anthology of 20 short stories, poems, essays, and comics. As with any collection book, some pieces are stronger than others. While I wish more depth and nuance were explored, I especially enjoyed the essays on mixed identity and a school’s quinceañera.

I am so thrilled this book exists! The stories and essays are well written and cover a range of experiences. One thing that really sets this collection apart is the nuance of the families, characters/people, and events portrayed. Part of my family is Mexican American and so much of what I read here rings true. The anthology BLACK ENOUGH edited by Ibi Zoboi has long been my favorite short story anthology; LIVING BEYOND BORDERS is now going to join that label. I can't wait to share these stories with my students--and will definitely be using some of these in my short story writing classes. Highly recommend!

What a beautiful anthology of works that truly encompass and reflects the lives of many Mexican Americans, including my very own. I felt seen and heard, and I feel this collection of stories can touch so many of us in different ways. With topics important to society.
It’s emotional, heartwarming, frustrating.. you’ll find yourself feeling everything at once. Even if the reader is not Mexican American, this book brings clarity, and understanding of obstacles we face.
I feel proud to be Mexican American, and this title made feel so proud of all I’ve gone through and overcome.

Here’s a collection of short stories to push you right into your emotions and some of them are going to be discomforting ones. From the first story of this anthology of stories/poems/letters from people who have straddled the Mexican/American borders, I was absorbed. These stories made me angry and hopeful, sad and in awe.

While I appreciated them all, here’s a flavour of some of the ones that either hit me in the gut, educated me or transported me to someone else’s experience (sometimes all of these things).

Ghetto Is Not An Adjective by Dominic Carrillo took a chance encounter and made an impact through poetry, ignorance felt like it was the theme for this story.

“There Are Mexicans In Texas?” by Trinidad Gonzales really conveyed the importance of family history to how he’s navigated peoples’ ignorance and racism at various junctures. These familial stories seemed to ground the author’s sense of self. I could have read his experiences and anecdotes for much longer. This quote really hit home and has relevance to other countries too:

The struggle to belong is found not only in the politics of the street, but in official institutions that are supposed to be inclusive of all Americans.

Ode to My Papi by Guadalupe García McCall squeezed my heart in a mere moment on the paper. So much was conveyed in a short space.

There were so many others to mention, but I wanted to give a dynamic snapshot of what’s on offer here.

I live overseas but I read and watch these issues, wanting to know more, especially when tensions were heightened under the 45th POTUS’ control. This book afforded me a deeper dive into individual experiences both fictionalised and non-fiction. I recommend this to all and it is definitely suitable from teenage upwards.

The editor/author provided me with a early copy through netgalley but this has not influenced by review.

An amazingly well-rounded anthology! Some of these stories you will not be able to stop thinking about. This is worth your time. If you're Mexican-American, Latinx, or even just interested in hearing stories from Latinx authors, this is for you.
CWs/TWs: Racism, self harm (not graphic), depression, fatphobia, hate crime (murder, off page), incest (it never goes anywhere but it heavily talked about).

This anthology is a beautifully-written selection of stories reflecting the unique Mexican American experience of living in south Texas, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley. Stories of past and present, of love, loss, quinceaneras, discrimination, and family dynamics are written at various lengths - some stories are longer than others - and all present meaningful facets of life as a Mexican American in Texas.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I love the concept- bringing together a wide range of authors for a mixed-media anthology for teens celebrating Mexican American life and identity. And some of the essays and stories are touching, thought-provoking, and important.

An essay about the too-slow changes in the Smithsonian representing Mexican Americans. A touching story about a girl without a home getting a quinceanera through her new school. An essay about the struggle of growing up mixed and feeling in-between, unable to fluently speak Spanish. These are some examples of contributions that I really loved.

As with all anthologies, I liked some pieces better than others, but there was one in particular that flirts with incest that I was kind of uncomfortable with. Not sure why that choice was made, or why it's going in an anthology for teenagers. And maybe I'm missing something, but I also don't see why that element was necessary to the story in the first place. Here's the basic plot: a teen girl and her mom go on vacation with extended family because her mom has been struggling after the girls father left them. Going with them is the girls male cousin and we spend most of the story in her head thinking about how she's attracted to him even though she shouldn't be. Then they almost kiss before being interrupted by their family who scream about incest. There's other family drama too, but things eventually seem better for her mom. It was really uncomfortable to read and even though technically nothing happened, it's unclear to me what the point of flirting with that was. Also content warning, obviously.

Aside from that my other issue has to do with the way the collection was formatted. This is a mix of fiction and non-fiction, which is cool but there is no way to know for sure which pieces are fictional. Sometimes you can tell by reading, but other times it's very unclear. Typically with something like this you get a couple sentences at the end about the author and the piece, but in this case it's just all thrown together and while there are author bios at the end of the book, they don't include any reference to the pieces in this anthology. That feels like a major oversight.

So mixed feelings. There is definitely some good to be found here, but it also could have been handled better. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

As soon as I saw that this project was in the works, I couldn’t wait to read it. It definitely did not disappoint! This anthology features an incredible group of writers and their works are deeply meaningful and insightful. These stories, detailing the Mexican-American experience, need to be told. As a mother of mixed race Mexican-American children, I hope that these stories will reach the masses, so that the next generation finds acceptance, and the freedom to exist within two cultures.

A wonderful anthology that gives just a small glimpse of a variety of views about what it means to be Mexican American. Short stories, memoirs, poems, and comics that explore the rich and diverse Mexican American identity. My favorite story was “Yoli Calderon and Principal Hayes by Angela Cervantes. My heart went out to Yoli Calderon! 💗

4.5 Stars

Content Warnings at end of review

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This anthology is an exploration about what it means to be Mexican American. It contains stories, memoirs, poems, and comics that explore various parts of the authors' identities.

I really loved this collection. So many of the stories/pieces were absolutely incredible to read. The writing was diverse because of the many authors, but there wasn't a single piece I didn't like. I look forward to looking up some of these authors' other works!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Self harm

Beautiful collection of diverse voices! A mesmerizing mosaic of border life! Without a doubt, a book that should be read across the United States.

INCREDIBLE!! This collection of stories about life in border towns is raw, real, and glorious! Each author got to the heart of what it is like to be Mexican-American in America. Real stories about real people going through real identity challenges. I will recommend this to everyone I know!

I would love to see this as assigned reading in high school (and even middle school), due to its odes to Mexican culture as carried on in the United States, but also for its willingness to tackle a disconnection from that ancestry. In particular, the short story "Warning Bells" (Anna Meriano) partly touched upon teen students' apathy toward teachers who have actively encouraged heritage awareness.
.
This volume includes free verse and a pair of brief comicbook-style stories. I was most drawn to the short fiction: I welcomed how "Filiberto's Final Visit" (Francisco X. Stork) turned a seeming antagonist into an unexpected ally. I enjoyed the surprise end in "La Princesa Milaedy Dominguez" (Rubén Degollado). Among the non-fiction, "There Are Mexicans in Texas?" (Trinidad Gonzales) revealed a stunning form of cultural appropriation -- in a Smithsonian display, of all settings.

"The Body by the Canal" (David Bowles) recalled for me a period of gossip over the tragic fate of a real-life, possibly closeted teacher. "CoCo Chamoy y Chango" (e.E. Charlton-Trujillo) upturned a hazing-like instance into a door to camaraderie. (A bit of language here was gritty but, in my view, suited to the story.) "My Name is Dolores" (Guadalupe Ruiz-Flores) had a painful memory of school racism.

Smart. Poignant. Timely. This collection will make you laugh out loud and, in the very next, bring you to tears. If not, you have no soul. ¡Enhorabuena! ¡Una excelente lectura!

I was giving the opportunity to read this early release by Penguin Teen Publishing and NetGalley for an a honest review.
This was a very important read. Each one of the short story and poem told a difference story that was so incredibly important for the Mexican culture and make you think about. Each writer poured their heart out in their stories. If you have the opportunity please read it!

I would give this anthology a starred review if it were an option. Every story and poem included provides an honest, authentic narrative of how young adults experience life on the Southern U.S. /Mexican border, showing that their experiences are the same as in other parts of the country and the world. Readers not familiar with the rich culture and uniqueness of the Southern border may have a negative impression of the area because of how it’s portrayed in the media. This anthology will help with understanding that living in a border area creates a melding of rich cultures that political borders can’t divide. The stories had me laughing out loud, and then crying, sometimes in the same story. I recognized fictional accounts of events I’ve experienced as a border resident, such as quinceañeras, barbecues, large extended families, mama grandes, Latino doctors, lawyers, and teachers, as well as farm workers and maids, in other words, the same as people everywhere else in the US. This anthology, written by the some of the most talented Latinx writers, creates an honest, positive depiction of life on our southern border as experienced by its vibrant community.

An excellent book that gives realistic portrayal what it is like growing up along the US/ Mexico border. The book will help students with similar experiences see themselves reflected in the stories that they read.