Set in the US and Mexico, Sebastian explores two sides of his life, the former being the son of a politician in Mexico and current- recent Yale graduate getting ready to attend graduate school at the University of Iowa. In doing so, he loses his Visa and is forced to start the whole process all over again. This novel does a great job of exploring race, culture, immigration, gender, class & power.

This novel was an intriguing read that held my attention and kept me captivated the whole time. It was truly a powerful read.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of this novel.

An interesting title with a fascinating cast of characters that work to provide a bit more humanity to the news stories they are inspired by.

There is so much to "America del Norte" that I hardly know where to start. It's intellectual and sparky, examining an aspect of Mexican life that we don't read much about--the. highly educated "Austro Hungarians," mostly white Mexicans who are the descendents of European immigrants. The main character, Sebastian, has been educated in Mexico, the US, and Europe. Now graduated from Yale, he's working for a New York news outlet, on a permanent, sponsored visa., When he decides to go to graduate school at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. By doing so, he loses his sponsored visa, and has to start the visa process all over again. He's a fish out of water in Iowa and in his program. Few understand the difference between this tall white guy and farmworkers. Sebas's father is the Mexican attorney general, tainted by accusations of collusion with the cartels. His mom has a Master's in archeology and worked with indigenous groups in southern Mexico and now has cancer. He is forging a relationship with a musicologist who spent long periods in Colombia, but Iowa is not for her. He's drinking too much and can't decide what aspect of the Austro Hungarian experience to explore for his thesis in non-fiction writing.

There is a lot of Spanish in this book, and a whole section of French. As a Spanish speaker I wonder if people who don't speak either of these languages will get the full experience of "America del Norte," which erudite, funny, and bold. I was entranced throughout the book and could not put it down. I'm curious to see if the amount of text in other languages puts some readers off. I hope not.

Thanks you, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely fascinating, exquisitely modern take on the classic Latin American multigenerational family saga. While so often such stories are told from the point of view of "los de abajo" - from a Hispanic Tom Joad, as it were - in this case, Nicolás Medina Mora has chosen, as his protagonist, a young, privileged member of the Mexican elite, reminiscent of Felipe Restrepo Pombo's 2021 masterpiece, "Ceremonia." Highly recommended.