p. 20 para. 2 "Salvador remained ... living-room floor." This passage is an example of a surprising passage because it is shocking that Salvador has to sleep on cardboard on the living-room floor. Why might Salvador sleep on the floor instead of with the other children? (He is too old and big now to sleep in the bed with the small children.) I think this passage helps illustrate just how poor the Torres family is.

p. 24 para. 2 "Ensenada, Lupita's ... of them." This passage is an example of a descriptive passage because it describes Ensenada and gringos. Why do you think that Lupita thinks that all Americans are rich? (Because all of the Americans she has ever seen have had much more than her family has.) I think the author included this passage in the story to illustrate the beauty of Ensenada and to tell what Lupita thought of Americans.

p. 14 para. 4 "The Torres' ... see them." This is an example of a descriptive passage because it describes the Torres home. Do you think that the Torres family tries to take care of their home? (I think that they do because the father made the home larger and Lupita planted flowers to make the home look nicer.) I think this passage was included to show that the Torres family had very little, but they tried to make what they did have nice.

p. 32 para. 6 "I do ... go willingly." This passage is both sad and frightening because Lupita and Salvador must leave their family and travel to a strange land that they know very little about. Why do you think that their mother put so much responsibility on Salvador and Lupita? (Because she has a great deal of worries and responsibilities, so she must rely on her oldest two children to help her.) This passage shows how little the Torres family knows of the United States and how sad and frightening it will be for Salvador and Lupita to leave their family.