Poverty, abandonment, and immigration make Reyna yearn for a loving home. The dream house is a symbol of love, family, and belonging. It is also emblematic of the American dream, symbolizing financial success and economic stability. Yet a dream house alone is not enough—it must be a home she helped build. This is partly why she refuses to move into Gabe’s dream house in the redwoods.

Reyna sees California’s majestic redwoods for the first time on the day she arrives at UCSC. As Reyna notes, the redwoods symbolize her hope for a better future: “When I got off the bus at Kresge, I took a deep, deep breath, filling my lungs with the Santa Cruz air until I felt as if I could soar across the sky. If the word esperanza had a scent, I thought this was how it would smell–like a redwood forest” (26).