At the beginning of the book, Marisela and the other girls are attending their high school prom. They spend a great deal of time getting ready and doing their hair, and it’s clear that the dance means a lot to them. They try to live the lives of ordinary teenagers, but even during the prom, it’s clear that their lives are far more complicated. For example, Marisela has to deal with the hassle of telling her traditional Mexican father that he cannot go with her. 

The author writes that just as the Rocky Mountains loom large over Denver, so does the question of immigration loom large in the lives of Yadira and Marisela. She uses the mountains as a metaphor for how the girls orient themselves in life. Locals use the Rocky Mountains to orient themselves, and Thorpe writes that the girls use the status of immigration law to orient themselves as to whether they are American or not. The girls’ status comes to define their lives, as the mountains define the landscape around Denver.