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In focus: 3rd-generation Mexican Americans

Despite a comical cover, this is a serious research book that would more likely be found in a sociology class than on a coffee table. But even nonacademic readers will find it interesting for the snippets of interviews with 50 young, suburban third-generation plus Mexican Americans in Phoenix and San Jose, Calif.

The personal stories help Tomas Macias, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Vermont, shine the spotlight on an often-neglected demographic group. With attention focused on new immigrants, the experience of Mexican-Americans ages 25 to 40 whose families have been in the United States for at least three generations has often been ignored.

They are an interesting group. Macias wonders how much ethnicity matters to these Mexican-Americans who came of age long after the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He addresses issues such as what they prefer to be called and what that choice means. He also examines how ongoing immigration affects Mexican American assimilation compared to the European American immigrant experience.

Other topics include the loss of the Spanish language, intermarriage, the rejection of traditional gender roles, working in White-dominated workplaces and the ability of many Mexican Americans to turn their ethnic identity on and off depending on the social situation.

Whether you're a young Chicano, Mexican American or Hispanic, you'll likely find yourself somewhere in the pages of Mestizo in America.