Books

Stephanie Elizondo Griest grew up in South Texas straddling two worlds: those of her Latina mother and her white father.

Her Latina side usually took a backseat, until she was in high school and realized she could apply to colleges on minority scholarships.

Ms. Griest, now an author, recently decided she wanted to connect with her Latin roots. The result is Mexican Enough, a memoir of the eight months she spent traveling around Mexico.

The 34-year-old is nomadic by nature. Her first book, 2004's Around the Bloc, detailed her adventures in Moscow, Beijing and Havana. A second, 100 Places Every Woman Should Go, tells of more exotic travel locales.

Here's more from the University of Texas alum, who will read from her new book on Sunday at Borders in Allen:

You touch on a lot of political issues in this book – rights for indigenous Mexicans, how society treats gay people there, government corruption. Was there one overall issue that particularly left an impression with you?

Immigration, absolutely. It's just devastating to travel throughout the rural countryside in Mexico and see the effect that immigration has had. Children are growing up without any male influence in their life. You go to certain villages and every male over the age of 13 and 14 years old isn't there. ... What's starting to happen now is far more women are now beginning to migrate. ... That's the tragedy of immigration. People cross the border in order to provide for their families, and help their families, but what inevitably happens is they end up just staying here.

Have you gotten any feedback from readers who say you've encouraged them to research their roots?

That is what's been so beautiful about this book. It's only been out for two weeks, but somehow people have already read it. [Laughs.] It's really amazing. I'm getting two or three letters a day from different Latinos living in all parts of the country. Just today I got a letter from a Cuban living in Miami, and he said, "I just wanted to thank you. I've been battling whether or not to return to Cuba, and your book really put me over the edge, and I feel like I should do it now." I cannot tell you – for an author, that's the most extraordinary response to get.

You touched on this at the end of the book, but do you feel more at ease with your identity now?

I do, actually. I kind of came to the realization of what it means to be Mexican in Mexico is biracial by definition. It's a combination of the Spanish conquistadores and a combination of the indigenous Mexicans. To be Mexican is to be biracial. So I was like, wow, the fact that I am biracial, biethnic, bicultural, gives me a better understanding of what it's like to be Mexican than anyone.

Plan your life

Stephanie Elizondo Griest will read and sign copies of her new book, Mexican Enough, at 2 p.m. Sunday at Borders in Allen. 965 W. Bethany Drive. 214-383-9676. mexicanenough.com.

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