Growing Up Summary

In Growing Up, Maria, a Hispanic girl, is in tenth grade and lives in Fresno with her family. Her family consists of her mom, dad Rafael, sister Irma, and brothers Rudy and John. Maria is the oldest child. She remembers a vacation one year ago to visit an uncle in West Covina. The trip is boring except for a one-day excursion to Disneyland. At the park, she feels that she is dressed poorly. Self-conscious, she feels poverty-stricken. Although she rides many rides and has some fun, her memory of the trip, even the part at Disneyland, makes her feel ambivalent about another family vacation. Thus, when Maria's parents announce a vacation to Great America, she tells her father that she does not plan on going on the day before the planned vacation. Maria's father, a foreman at a paper mill, emigrated...