In their very brief review of Castañeda's Among the Volcanoes, Diane Roback and Richard Donahue describe a novel that offers the reader a "quietly realistic portrait" of a girl struggling to make a life for herself in contemporary Central America.

In Guatemala, life is both simpler and harder for teenagers than in the U.S. Isabel Pacay wants to go to school and become a teacher, but not only is her family very poor, no one in the village, not even her boyfriend, seems to see beyond tradition. When her mother becomes ill, Isabel is expected to stay home, take care of the family and give up her dreams. With the help of an American medical researcher, however, Isabel finds the courage within herself to do what she believes is right. More than anything, the novel offers a quietly realistic portrait of life in Central...