What aspects of the author's story could you most relate to? What lessons or insights did you find in it?

What aspects of the author's story could you most relate to? What lessons or insights did you find in it?

I could most relate to how Quiara would be one type of person with one side of her family and another type of person with the other. I learned that doing so is pretty much universal for non-white people relating to white people.

I most related to her love of learning, her love of books and reading, and her desire to achieve all she could dream to achieve.

I relate to Quiara's love of music, writing and drama but her talent far outpaces mine. I so enjoyed her descriptions of the music gigs she picked up after college.

Quiara is far more talented than I, but I do relate to her love of writing and of drama. I participated in drama in high school and college, mostly to challenge myself because I quickly moved to behind-the-scenes rather than being on stage. Writing, however, continues to be a solace to me daily!

As a bookworm, I relished Quiara's love of books and stories. It was nurtured by her mother and teachers like the AP English teacher who reads poetry aloud, "intoning phrases as though they cast spells" [p158]. And, reflecting on her beloved cousin Nuchi's illiteracy, Quiara wonders who she herself might have been if she had not met beloved favorites like Invisible Man; Beloved; and The House on Mango Street.

I also related to Quiara's candid, empowering feminism. "In middle school I learned despising one's boobs, body hair, and ass was American as apple pie."[p303]. Sadly Quiara's observation still holds true; though a few pages on, she ends on an inspiring note: "By naming our pain and voicing our imperfections, we declare our tremendous survival."[p313]

Quiara's stories about her family gathering at her grandmother's house reminded so much of going with my friend to her mother's house in inner city Detroit. My friend's mother was famous for her tamales, and she was always in the kitchen cooking up a storm for family members who often gathered in her home. Really wonderful memories.

I related to her stories of family gatherings and the women in the kitchen cooking. I also loved the books/reading aspect of the book.