Reviewed by Cho for TeensReadToo.com

Sofi Mendoza's life was made when she and her best friends were invited to the hottest party of the year.

Just when Sofi thought everything was perfect, her overprotective parents say she can't go. But that doesn't stop her -- after she tells her parents a lie, she heads straight to the party.

After the party, Sofi and a group of her friends decide to make a quick trip to Tijuana and make it back before morning, but little do they know that everyone will return, except for Sofi!

The only thing stopping her is the green card she has. Well, the counterfeit one. While her parents do the necessary paperwork, Sofi ends up staying with her aunt and cousins. Spending her time working on their ranch, living in their house with no electricity, Sofi finds a new love. By the time she falls head over heels, her paperwork gets completed and Sofi is on her way home.

But will the romance continue? Will she learn what life is really all about, and will she finally understand why her parents care so much?

You'll have to find out the answers yourself when you read SOFI MENDOZA'S GUIDE TO GETTING LOST IN MEXICO! ( )

The book starts out as a typical "high school senior party before you graduate" novel, but becomes serious and almost politcal. Sofi is a Mexican girl who considers herself American (especially since she can hardly speak Spanish), until she goes to party across the border only to find out that her green card is fake. Weeks before prom, finals and a chance at independance at UCLA, she's not allowed back into the States. Now she's forced to deal with life in unconventual Mexico as she watches her American dreams disappear. With all of its inconveniences, Mexico somehow also has some life lessons to teach Sofi as she learns to find the "diamond in the ruff."

The story turned out to be a good one. It brings up the issue of immigration which was something I did not expect by reading the beginning chapters.

I really enjoyed this book. Based loosely upon a true story, this fictional account starts out with Sofi, a protagonist who is a young first generation Mexican-American girl. Sofi decides to disobey her parents and sneak to Tijuana, Mexico for a Senior Class party. Little does she know that her green card is fake and when she and her friends try to re-enter America, she is detained by the INS at the border. Luckily for Sofi, she has relatives in the area and can stay with them until her immigration problems are straightened out. Her stay with her new found Aunt, Uncle and Cousins is hardly the luxury partying vacation that she had expereinced at the Senior party!!! The book explores how Sofi changes as she learns more about her family, culture and what it means to be a Mexican and also an American. Add in a dash of romance, family drama and not knowing if Sofi will ever return home and Malin Alegria writes a fast paced read that should satisfy most high school girls. The book not only features a character they can identify with (boy crush, partying, disobeying parents), but may also leave them thinking differently about identity. For me, the book gave a different view into the immigration debate that is so much a part of California life and our country's current political dialogue. It got me thinking and would also spark readers to explore and maybe even re-consider their own views on the heated subject. ( )

Sofi may have been born in Mexico, but she’s an American girl all the way. When she and her friends sneak off for a weekend in Tijuana, she thinks nothing will happen, but when she tries to get back into America, the border patrol says her green card is fake. Now she’s stuck in Mexico until everything can be sorted out. What’s a girl to do?