As narrator and memoirist, Grande, now a professional writer, shows her ability to reflect, imagine, and combine the two into mature experience. As children in an impoverished Mexican community, Reyna and her siblings dream of a better life—but, for them, a better life means simply having both parents. She grows up frequently parentless, misguided, and troubled by conflicting memories and hopes. While she craves the attention and approval of her parents, she tries to survive in a strange new environment once her father brings her to America.

At odds with both of her parents, she rarely lashes out, due to her natural shyness and tendency to avoid conflict. On the other hand, she is a star student, determined to go to college, with a particular interest in Latino literature. She admits that her short stature and accent have at times caused her some embarrassment or ridicule; in first grade, her teacher punishes her simply for being left-handed.

At first she seeks her father’s attention, but eventually she reaps the rewards of her efforts in other ways—she becomes leader of the marching band, gets scholarships, wins writing awards. Her father shows no interest, doesn’t attend her events, and never congratulates her.