69 pages • 2-hour read
The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 12-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of antigay bias and bullying.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Brother’s Life”
Jamal is staying with the Flores family and has become quite helpful, driving Yami and Cesar to school and assisting with household chores. Yami uses Jamal’s rides to avoid Hunter, who keeps trying to talk to her about what she revealed at the party. At home, Yami discovers Cesar and Jamal playing “chubby bunny,” stuffing marshmallows in their mouths, which leads to a playful fight between the boys. Observing their relationship makes Yami jealous. She hides her mother’s phone to prevent her father from telling her mother about her sexuality. Meanwhile, she checks her phone repeatedly, hoping for a response from her father about her coming-out text.
During a walk to the corner store with Cesar and Jamal, they discuss dream jobs, and Jamal asks when Yami will “be gay with [them]” (174). Cesar teases her about having feelings for Bo, and when Yami deflects, they argue briefly. As they near the store, they encounter bullies from Rover High School who direct antigay slurs at Cesar. The three run away, but the bullies pursue them in a truck, nearly running over Yami. Cesar pushes her out of the way, risking his own safety. When the truck swerves away, Yami angrily throws her sandal at it before embracing her brother in gratitude. From across the street, Bianca witnesses the incident and briefly makes eye contact with Yami before turning away to join her friends.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Thou Shalt Confess Thy Sins-Selectively”
Yami is swamped with friendship bracelet orders after her Black Friday Instagram posts. While weaving, she strategizes about job hunting to avoid thinking about her father’s continued silence. When Jamal offers to help with her jewelry work, they discuss coming-out experiences. Jamal apologizes for assuming that she knew Cesar had told him about her sexuality, and they share their fears about family rejection. With the three of them working together, Yami easily meets her production goals.
At school on Monday, students attend the sacrament of confession. During the assembly, Bo argues with a priest about sexual orientation, challenging his biblical interpretation and asserting that the passages often cited against being gay actually refer to adultery, not committed relationships. When it’s Yami’s turn to confess, unlike previous confessions, she chooses not to mention being gay, deciding that she can try to accept that part of herself rather than treating it as sinful. After school, Yami learns that Jamal is leaving their house to stay with a cousin in New Mexico. Cesar is upset, and Yami worries that there’s more to the story. After art class the next day, Bo and David help Yami make necklaces for her mother’s jewelry business.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Make Unto Thee a Fat Wallet”
Yami sets up her jewelry at the mercado (market) early on Saturday morning. Sales start slowly, and she reluctantly accepts $60 for a necklace priced at $110. As more shoppers arrive, Yami sees Bianca and her mother entering the market. Panicking, she hides under her table for an hour, missing the busy period. When she emerges, business remains slow until an elderly woman purchases multiple pieces, spending hundreds of dollars. Yami tears up, realizing that she now has enough money for a security deposit on an apartment if needed.
At school the following Monday, Bo is absent with a winter illness, making the day feel unbearably slow to Yami. She realizes that she’s developed strong feelings for Bo and seeks Cesar’s advice about her crush. Cesar tells her to enjoy the feeling without expectations, but Yami remains convinced that nothing will happen with Bo since she believes that Bo has a girlfriend. Later, Yami receives a text from Bianca: “I miss you” (206). When Bianca adds “as a friend” (207), Yami responds angrily, telling her to “kiss [her] ass” and blocking her number (207), refusing to allow Bianca back into her life.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Thou Shalt Not Adulate False Idols”
Yami works intensely on making jewelry for the second mercado. She’s given up checking her phone for messages from her father, accepting his silence. Cesar accompanies her to the mercado, implementing strategic sales techniques: wearing school uniforms to gain sympathy, borrowing Doña Violeta’s dog to attract customers, and displaying only one of each piece to create urgency. His salesmanship proves effective, and they make almost twice as much as Yami did the previous week.
After discovering through Instagram that Jamal is in town, Yami calls him about posing as her boyfriend for a video to send her father, hoping to “fix” her coming out. During their conversation, Jamal reveals that he and Cesar broke up, contradicting what Cesar told her about his whereabouts. When confronted, Cesar is evasive about the breakup. Cesar then shows Yami a video that their father sent him about a duck named Canela that they both loved as children, confirming that Emiliano is deliberately ignoring Yami. During dinner, their mother asks about Jamal, and Cesar tells her that Jamal and Yami broke up. Maria correctly guesses that Jamal is gay and then makes antigay comments, confirming Yami’s fear of coming out. Maria then reveals that she’s saved enough money to send both children to visit Emiliano in Mexico for winter break. Cesar is overjoyed, but Yami cries, unable to explain that she cannot face their father after his rejection. After an argument with Cesar about their father, Yami feels increasingly isolated from her family.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Thou Shalt Not Foster Petty Grudges”
With Maria and Cesar in Mexico visiting her father, Yami stays with Bo’s family for winter break. She secretly returns her mother’s phone to her bag before they leave, knowing that there’s no point in keeping it hidden if her mother will see her father in person. Yami receives video updates from her mother but nothing from her father or Cesar. She records a message for Cesar saying that she misses him and isn’t angry, but she receives no response.
At Bo’s house, Yami asks about Bo’s girlfriend, Jamie, and Bo replies that Jamie is away visiting family for the break. Missing the music that’s always playing in her own home, Yami asks Bo to play some. Bo puts on disco music, and they dance together, momentarily allowing Yami to forget her worries. After Bo’s parents return home and have a minor argument about household chores, Yami observes Bo’s affectionate relationship with her mother, which makes her reflect on her own family relationships. She wonders if her mother’s love is conditional and dependent on Yami being exactly who her mother needs her to be. As Yami struggles with feelings of isolation, she worries that while in Mexico, her family might be bonding over their shared dislike of her. She particularly concerns herself with Cesar’s well-being, wondering whether their father has told their mother about Yami’s sexuality and how that might affect her brother.
Chapters 12-16 Analysis
The impact of familial rejection dominates these chapters, revealing how identity formation becomes fundamentally threatened when core relationships fracture. Yami’s father’s prolonged silence after her coming-out text creates a wound deeper than her initial fear anticipated. His selective communication with Cesar while deliberately ignoring Yami demonstrates how antigay discrimination can operate through painful absence rather than direct confrontation: “He could have responded to me a hundred times by now […] My dad, my idol, who was once upon a time the most trusted person in my life, wants nothing to do with me” (214-15). This silent rejection forces Yami to reconsider her entire relationship with her father and to view her choice to come out to him as “a mistake” that she could “fix.” As a result, she becomes even more certain that she cannot risk coming out to her mother. Rejection thus becomes formative in Yami’s understanding of what her sexuality means within her family structure, reinforcing her protective instinct to compartmentalize her identity.
Economic self-sufficiency emerges as Yami’s primary protective mechanism against potential familial rejection. The jewelry and beadwork business transitions from being a mere income source to becoming a survival strategy. Her determination during the second mercado with Cesar reveals this shift: “I can’t stay hiding all day” (201). When the elderly customer purchases multiple pieces, Yami’s emotional response—“I tear up […] I have enough [money] for my security deposit” (202)—demonstrates how financial independence becomes equated with emotional security. This connection is reinforced when she calculates sufficient funds for “roughly a couple months’ worth of rent and a security deposit” (211-12), representing not just money but a concrete escape plan from potential rejection. Yami’s economic preparation becomes her method of maintaining control within her increasingly uncertain family situation.
The motif of broken communication patterns illustrates the broader theme of The Importance of Supportive Communities, as key relationships become fractured throughout these chapters. The narrative establishes a parallel between Emiliano’s refusal to respond and Cesar’s similar pattern during their fight and subsequent separation. Yami desperately seeks reconnection through technology: “I start a video for Cesar. ‘Hey…hi. We haven’t talked in a while. I miss you’” (229), mirroring her earlier attempts to reach her father.
As Yami works toward Finding Self-Acceptance Despite External Judgment, the novel juxtaposes conditional love against the potential for authentic acceptance. Yami’s fear about her mother—“Like if I’m not exactly who she needs me to be, then I’m unlovable” (234)—occurs while observing Bo’s accepting family dynamic. The confession scene crystalizes Yami’s growing self-acceptance when she chooses not to confess being gay, refusing to accept the Church’s framing of her sexuality as a sin: “I tell him about hurting Bo’s feelings, and getting drunk. I confess all the things I feel guilty about. But liking girls? I feel like I can be okay with that part of myself, or at least try to” (190). This represents a significant shift, as Yami stops internalizing societal and religious condemnation and begins to separate her authentic self from external judgment. Bo’s confrontation with the priest—“I just don’t see why I have to apologize for being exactly the way God made me” (187)—serves as a catalyst for Yami’s tentative steps toward self-acceptance.
These chapters explore how friendship and authentic connection become even more valuable in the context of familial and institutional rejection. Yami and Bo’s spontaneous dance scene provides a temporary escape from Yami’s anxiety: “Bo grabs my hands, and for some reason the music keeps me from overthinking it […] Like she’s the only constant thing around” (233). This connection contrasts sharply with Yami’s experience with Bianca, whose text, “I miss you […] as a friend” (206-07), represents the conditional acceptance that Yami now rejects . Yami’s growing friendship with Bo represents the possibility of authentic connection. Through Jamal, Cesar, and Bo, the text explores varying models of LGBTQ+ support systems that operate differently than familial structures, suggesting alternative frameworks for acceptance when traditional family support fractures.
Unlock all 69 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs