Much of the novel’s plot relies on Ana Rosa’s interpretations of the importance of words and language. Words are both the substance of Ana Rosa’s daily life as well as the way for her to shape her vision of her identity and her future. Ana Rosa’s hyper focus on words is outside of the norm in her community, heightening the thematic presence of words throughout the text.

Lynn Joseph’s characterization of young Ana Rosa as a writer appears throughout the text, from the poems at the start of each chapter to long descriptions of how Ana Rosa feels about words. Subsequently, as the novel comes closer to the climax, Ana Rosa becomes even more self-aware about how words can be powerful in her life. When Ana Rosa discovers the truth about Papi, after a brief internal struggle, she asserts: “But I was a writer, wasn’t I?... Papi was still my Papi… I had a power over [words]. I could make words into anything I wanted” (92). This is an important moment for Ana Rosa as she begins to see more clearly that she can define her own life and experience through the words she uses.