Reyna and her boyfriend Edwin drive north to UCSC, where Reyna hopes a university degree will unlock the American dream.

Reyna's literature professor calls roll on the first day of class and mispronounces her name as Renée Grand.

Reyna joins a campus protest against the repeal of affirmative action and finally feels a genuine sense of belonging.

Reyna travels to Iguala over winter break after learning her sister Betty is skipping school and dating a married man.

Reyna uses her own tuition money to buy Betty a plane ticket to Santa Cruz and enrolls her at a local high school.

Chicano literature professor Marta Navarro praises Reyna's writing and compares her work to acclaimed authors Juan Rulfo and Tomás Rivera.

Under Marta's guidance, Reyna publishes her first short story collection, Under the Guamúchil Tree, and holds her first book signing.

Reyna graduates from UCSC as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar with honors and reads a commencement essay paying tribute to her mentor Diana.

After failing to find work as a writer, Reyna takes a remedial English and ESL teaching job at an LAUSD middle school in South Central.

Reyna buys a foreclosed house in South Central through a program offering reduced prices to teachers.

Reyna gives birth to her son Nathan without an epidural, with only her sister Mago beside her in the delivery room.

Reyna is awarded an Emerging Voices fellowship and chooses author María Amparo Escandón as her writing mentor.

Reyna declines a New York publisher's offer after the editor demands she change her immigrant protagonist into a US-born Latina.

Literary editor Malaika Adero at Atria Books makes an offer to publish Reyna's manuscript and requests no major revisions.

Reyna's debut novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, is published to positive reviews and later wins an American Book Award.

Reyna Grande arrives at UC Santa Cruz as the first in her family to attend university, carrying the weight of the American dream and her family's sacrifices. She faces microaggressions and isolation but finds vital mentorship in Chicano literature professor Marta Navarro, who helps her publish her first short story collection. After graduating with honors, Reyna struggles to find writing work and takes a teaching job, but never abandons her goal of becoming a published author. She buys a house, gives birth to her son Nathan, and earns a prestigious Emerging Voices fellowship that opens doors to the publishing world. After refusing a book deal that would force her to compromise her immigrant story, she accepts an offer from an editor who supports her vision without reservations. Her debut novel wins an American Book Award and marks the fulfillment of her lifelong dream.

Reyna's journey from immigrant student to published author.

On her first night at UCSC, Reyna watches from her dorm window as other families help their children settle in.

Walking home from an unfamiliar grocery store, Reyna spots La Esperanza market and feels a sudden surge of hope.

Reyna wins first prize in a junior high writing contest after overcoming the fear of rejection planted by a fifth-grade teacher.

Betty tells Reyna about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of their mother and stepfather during a night in Iguala.

Reyna visits her paternal grandmother Abuela Evila, who scratches at her own skin and insists maggots are eating her alive.

Reyna joins the Latina student writing group Las Girlfriends, contributes to their literary journal, and presents her work at public readings.

Betty becomes pregnant at sixteen after Reyna sends her back to Los Angeles to live with their mother.

Reyna works a summer maintenance job painting and cleaning dorms and gains new insight into her father's emphasis on education.

Reyna meets a confident Chicana named Erica on a bus, who introduces her to folklórico dancing and Chicana identity.

After graduating from UCSC, Reyna moves in with her brother Carlos and his family, unable to find work as a writer.

Reyna and Francisco travel to Europe, but he claims his wallet is stolen and she is left paying for everything.

Reyna discovers she is pregnant by Francisco and chooses to keep the baby despite Mago's advice to have an abortion.

Reyna's undocumented friend Rosa's split identity at work inspires the dual-identity theme that becomes central to Reyna's novel.

Reyna invites Cory to lunch and brings Nathan along, wanting to show Cory her reality as a single mother.

Reyna travels to Iguala with Cory to celebrate her book deal, and Nathan surprises them both by calling Cory papa.

Reyna's time at UCSC begins with loneliness and small revelations, from watching other families from her dorm window to finding hope in a Mexican market near campus. She travels to Iguala over winter break, where Betty reveals the abuse she suffered and Reyna confronts her family's painful history. Back at UCSC, Reyna finds community through a Latina writing group while her sister's life spirals in a difficult direction. After graduation, Reyna struggles to balance her writing ambitions with financial pressures, navigating a troubled relationship with Francisco that results in an unplanned pregnancy. Her eventual friendship with her colleague Cory slowly blossoms into romance, and a trip to Iguala to celebrate her book deal marks a turning point in their relationship. Together, these events flesh out the personal sacrifices and quiet triumphs that run alongside Reyna's professional story.

Reyna's personal struggles with family, identity, and relationships.

Reyna decides not to answer to the name Renée Grand and approaches her professor after class to correct him.

Kneeling in church with Abuelita Chinta on her final day in Iguala, Reyna decides she will take responsibility for Betty's future.

Abuela Evila dies three months after Reyna's visit, never having offered the apology Reyna had hoped to receive.

Reyna's fiction professor dismisses her stories about Iguala as melodramatic and overwritten while praising her white classmates' work about partying.

A palm reader predicts Reyna will break her family's cycle of poverty and abuse, renewing her determination to keep writing.

After spending a night at Gabe's redwood forest home, Reyna leaves the next morning knowing it is his dream and not hers.

Reyna meets author Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston on campus, who tells her that writers are not just entertainers but agents of change.

Reyna attends Betty's high school graduation, proud of the loving family her once-troubled sister has managed to build.

Reyna refuses to leave the federal building during the September 11 attacks, determined to complete her citizenship application.

While building Reyna a fence, her father shares his memories of crossing the border, and Reyna realizes she will be the parent who stays.

Reyna's family arrives in Iguala to find that Abuelita Chinta has already died from a scorpion bite before they could reach her.

In her Emerging Voices fellowship interview, Reyna tells the panel that immigrants deserve a voice in American literature.

Cory breaks up with his long-term girlfriend and tells Reyna he is falling in love with her.

Reyna's mother attends her book presentation at UCSC and takes genuine interest in her daughter's writing for the first time.

Cory proposes to Reyna by hiding an engagement ring inside her Scrabble tile bag while they are playing the game.

From the moment Reyna refuses to answer to a mispronounced name, she begins asserting her identity against a world that tries to erase it. Her winter break visit to Iguala forces her to confront family trauma directly, leading her to claim responsibility for Betty and to process the death of her abusive grandmother Abuela Evila. Back at UCSC, she weathers criticism of her writing and finds her path clarified by a palm reader's encouragement and a famous author's declaration that writers are agents of change. Post-graduation, a series of personal revelations deepens her self-understanding: a citizenship oath made under extraordinary circumstances, a heart-to-heart with her father while he builds her a fence, and the grief of losing her beloved grandmother Abuelita Chinta. Her personal life finally turns toward stability when Cory declares his love and then proposes, signaling that Reyna has built the loving home she always dreamed of carrying.