This book was an interesting look at the family, cultural and spiritual lives of Mexican and Mexican-Americans. Overall, the Mexican side of the story felt authentic, but the scenes at the "all-white rich prep school" rang a little hollow. Mostly, this book would have been better if it had been a little longer, allowing Ms. Canales to flesh out the characters and events of the book more deeply. This would be an interesting literature circle selection for a theme study on the Hispanic experience in America, coming of age stories, rituals related to life and death. While the title might cause some middle school teachers to hesitate, the tequila worm is dealt with in a culturally authentic manner which does not glorify teen drinking in any way. In fact, there is so little actual drinking of mescal that it would be hard to call it teen drinking.

There is an intriguing focus on the Mexican relationship with death and family, both through the eyes of a (shallow and completely flat) white character as well as through those of the main character. It reminded me of stories I heard about one of the devoutly Catholic Mexican families at my old school and the overwhelming crucifix presence in their household.

Another aspect of this story which I appreciated was the fact that the author doesn't immediately translate every Spanish word. Most of the words you can figure out through context clues, but I like a book which expects the reader to work a little bit. When definitions foreign language words are embedded I feel a little too much like I'm on a guided tour of a culture museum with a translator.