A reflective 12 year old at the start of the novel, Ana Rosa is the narrator and protagonist of The Color of My Words. As an aspiring writer, Ana Rosa frequently reflects on how words relate to her life; she watches the people and community around her and talks about them in her poetry and stories. Ana Rosa’s interest in describing the world around her is the cause of many of the tensions in the novel, though these conflicts spur her on, rather than stifling her creativity.

Ana Rosa is very close with her family and spends most of her time interacting with her siblings and parents. When she discovers that her Papi is not her biological father, she quickly recovers and believes more firmly in the strength of her family unit. Of all of her family members, Ana Rosa most admires her older brother, Guario, who supports her and wants to see her become a successful writer.

The novel’s plot revolves around Ana Rosa’s maturation into a young adult with clearer opinions about the world around her. At the start of the novel, she is largely innocent to the way things happen and what peoples’ perceptions are of her.