Lupita is the narrator and protagonist of the book. She writes poetry that tells the story of her family, and she is emotionally attached to words, symbolism, and plants. As the eldest of seven children, Lupita feels responsibility to lead her family, particularly when her mother is diagnosed with a cancer that kills her over the span of two years. Lupita is headstrong, confident, and more concerned with being a pillar of strength than other more typical adolescent concerns. She finds solace from the stress of her leadership role within the family in drama and poetry. While Lupita navigates her emergence into young womanhood, she must also endure her mother’s illness as well as the devastation the illness wreaks on her family. Lupita’s determination to be strong manifests itself in her commitment to her schoolwork, her devotion to her family, and her articulation of her Mexican identity. McCall parallels Lupita’s journey with the mesquite that grows in her family’s garden. Stubborn but strong and beautiful, the mesquite embodies Lupita’s journey to forging new paths for herself and her family.