Sofi Mendoza's Guide To Getting Lost In Mexico

Although 17-year-old Sofi Mendoza was born in Mexico, she's lived in California for most of her life. But while on a trip to Tijuana with her friends, Sofi gets an unexpected crash course in local culture and learns she is not a U.S. citizen.

"Do you guys have Internet?.,.""How about TiVo?.,.""You do get American TV?" The house was dark. "Wait a minute -- do they even have electricity?"

Even though Sofi Mendoza was born in Mexico, she's spent most of her life in California -- the closest she gets to a south-of-the-border experience is eating at Taco Bell. But when Sofi and her friends sneak off for a weekend in Tijuana, she gets in real trouble. To Sofi's shock, the border patrol says that her green card is counterfeit. Until her parents can sort out the paperwork and legal issues, Sofi is stuck in Mexico.

In the meantime, Sofi's parents arrange for her to stay with long-lost relatives in rural Baja. It's bad enough that Sofi has to miss senior prom and even graduation, but her aunt, uncle, and cousins live on a ranch with no indoor plumbing As the weeks pass, though, she finds herself adapting to her surroundings. Sofi starts helping out on the ranch, getting along with her bratty cousins, and she even meets a guy with more potential than anyone from school. Through the unexpected crash course in her heritage, Sofi comes to appreciate that she has a home on both sides of the border.