Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Consider what you know about Mexican American communities in the United States. In what states are these communities prominent? What is the history of immigration from Mexico to the US?

Teaching Suggestion: This question can help connect students with the historical and cultural contexts of the novel’s central family, the Hernandezes, and the family’s daughter, Gabi, the protagonist. Gabi’s parents journeyed from a small village in Mexico to the US in search of the “American Dream.” Information from the following or similar resources may aid in understanding the historical and cultural contexts of the family’s and other families’ journeys and their communities in the novel.

• This teacher-facing primary source set from the Library of Congress shares resources related to Mexican American communities and migration.
• Gutiérrez’s 2019 article provides an overview of “Mexican Immigration to the United States“ through an academic lens.

2. What are the stereotypical roles that different genders play historically in society, in the US, and elsewhere? Are these stereotypes still present in contemporary society, in the US, and elsewhere? How or how not? Why or why not?