Summaries

Daughter of Invention:

After arriving in the United States, Laura tried to invent things. But her daughters hated how she would spend time inventing, instead of helping them fit in America. Laura becomes frustrated that she couldn't turn any of her ideas into something profitable, so she gave up.

During ninth grade, Yolanda was chosen to give a speech at the school assembly. She felt uncomfortable with her accent and feared that she was going to be laughed at by her classmates. Yolanda worked hard on her speech and was pleased that she finally sounded like herself in English. But her father became angered by Yolanda's disrespect to her teachers and tore the paper into pieces. Yolanda ran back to her room and locked the door, until her mother came and helped her write a new speech.

Trespass:

Carla felt ashamed of the changes that her body was going through. She also feared the gang of boys at her new school that would hurl stones at her and call her names. One day when she was walking home from school, she noticed a car following her. The man in the car beckoned for her to come closer and she realized that he was naked from the waist down. Carla ran home and when the police arrived, she was mortified that she had to explain what had happened. Later Carla changed school, but she never forgot the memory of the boys telling her to go back to where she came from. She would pray to return to a place where people loved her.

Snow:

Yolanda went to a Catholic school near their small rented apartment. She was the only immigrant in the class and got special tutoring from her 4th grade teacher, Sister Zoe, to help her learn English. Yolanda learned that a cuban missile crisis was going on and when she saw dots in the air, she thought it was a bomb, until Sister Zoe explained that it was only snow.

--Janet :)