Soto’s protagonists share a Mexican American heritage and must frequently navigate a multicultural society as they struggle with the conflicts and emotional challenges of adolescence. Some seek belonging within their families even as they struggle to negotiate the differences between their family’s past and the world they now inhabit. Meanwhile, others maneuver between the Mexican and American cultures as they explore the world beyond their home. Still others struggle to find a form of belonging that blends the contrasting cultural expectations of family and society.

In “Growing Up,” Maria struggles to connect with her father because she lives in a multicultural world and cannot fully appreciate the hardships that he once endured in Mexico. This interpersonal conflict is emphasized in the contrast between her father’s values and her own self-centered desire to watch “American Bandstand” and read Seventeen magazine. He angrily tells her, “In Chihuahua, my town, we worked hard. You worked, even los chavalos! And you showed respect to your parents, something you haven’t learned” (99). In Mexico, the young people—los chavalos—must work harder than Maria has ever had to work in the United States. Her father’s observations highlight the distinct cultural differences between growing up in Mexico and growing up in the United States. Stuck between these two different cultural realities, Maria struggles to forge a deeper bond with her father, and it is only in her family’s absence that she comes to realize how important they are to her. 

By contrast, Fausto in “The No-Guitar Blues” seeks his place in society by actively intertwining his Mexican roots with his life in the US. When he sees how Los Lobos, a Chicano rock band, has risen to fame and has appeared on “American Bandstand,” he longs to gain a similar form of acceptance and celebrity status, and this desire fuels his determination to obtain a guitar. Furthermore, his attempts to navigate this multicultural world are on full display when he is at the dog owner’s house. After Helen notes that he must be hungry and offers him a turnover, Fausto confusedly asks, “What do I have to turn over?” (xx). Later, when he compares the pastry to an empanada, this description of his confusion marks the odd intersections and collisions between American and Mexican culture. Although he is fluent in both English and Spanish, his occasional struggles illustrate the ongoing challenges of this cultural divide.

Meanwhile, Hector in “Two Dreamers” more subtly navigates the intersection of Mexican and American cultures—both at home and in society. While staying with his grandparents’ house for the summer, Hector communicates with Luis, his grandfather, in a mixture of Spanish and English: a pattern with which the boy is familiar. However, when Luis longs to make money in the real estate market, he inappropriately pressures his inexperienced nine-year-old grandson to help him find answers. When Hector has no idea how much a house down the street costs, Luis pushes the boy, saying, “Sure you do. A ver, dime” (26). Despite Hector’s ignorance on the topic, Luis insists that the boy tell him what he thinks, then takes Hector’s word as fact. 

Essentially, Luis coerces his grandson into engaging in adult concerns on his behalf, and as a result, Hector is stuck between his grandfather’s world and the half-understood pressures of American society. When the boy is wrong about the cost of the house, Luis unfairly chastises Hector, telling him that he should have known better because he “go[es] to school and know[s] about things’” (28). Luis’s assumption that an American school teaches a nine-year-old about real estate highlights the marked gap between Hector’s lived experiences and his grandfather’s understanding of American society. As a result, Hector is forced into an impossible situation and must act as a mediator on his grandfather’s behalf. With these varied situations, Soto builds a narrative tapestry illustrating the acute difficulties of navigating the boundaries between one culture and another.