Book Review: Just Like Us by Helen Thorpe

Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America by Helen Thorpe is a story that every American sees the surface of but never really sees below the surface.



This is a powerful story of four eighteen year old high school seniors, Marisela, Yadira, Clara, and Elissa - two legal citizens, 2 illegal citizens. All four girls were in the top of their class at their Denver, Colorado public high school but only 2 of the 4 Mexican immigrants had the opportunities to live the American dream.

Before reading the book, I did not realize that Just Like Us was written by the wife of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Had I known that before, I do not know how willing I would have been to read the book, for fear of it being politically biased. However, as Helen was a journalist first, that made me more at ease. So I continued reading and was amazed by all that I learned. This is a very intelligent and inspirational true story of illegal immigrants making it in contemporary America.

The story begins as these four very ambitious young women, who have been friends since middle school, prepare for senior prom in April of 2004. Before reading, I did not realize the hardships illegal immigrants who have been living here for years have to face such as getting a driver’s license or qualifying for in-state college tuition. Those are just some of the issues that these four young women had to deal with in high school. The book takes a turn when in 2005, illegal immigrant Raúl Gomez García murdered police officer Donald Young. This was such an important part of the controversy surrounding illegal immigrants in Denver since Garcia worked as a busboy at a restaurant partially owned by Helen's husband. When he became mayor, Hickenlooper put his restaurants in a blind trust so that he wouldn’t be attached to the hiring of Goméz García.

Helen follows the developments in the case but equally continues to follow the girls of course. She follows the girls everywhere from dance clubs to family gatherings. She even travels to Mexico to visit Yadira’s mother after she was deported, since Yadira could not visit as she cannot cross the border. Helen Thorpe deserves much praise and applause for her extensive investigative journalism of underclass people in not just Colorado but America. She provides a very interesting portrait of Denver with incredibly in depth perspectives from all angles.

Just Like Us is an honest, insightful, and incredibly moving piece of work. With this book, those usually in the background are brought to the forefront and that is refreshing to say the least. Without giving away anything...especially after reading this book, we learn that there are no easy solutions to eliminating or controlling illegal immigration. Yet, it does raise huge questions that may have you reconsider your outlook on this controversial issue.

Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America by Helen Thorpe will be available September 22, 2009.