At age nine, Reyna crossed the Mexico-America border to seek out her lost family. She was bitterly disappointed to find, however, an indifferent mother and an alcoholic, abusive father. She takes refuge in words and becomes a voracious reader and writer. As she enters college she dreams of becoming a writer, but quickly learns that she doesn't know how to turn her dream into reality. Here, she reflects on her journey from undocumented immigrant to successful writer, and growing up feeling alienated from a culture she tries to hang on to.
