I had a mother who walked to the library with me, and you can't walk to a lot of libraries in San Antonio because - guess what? - there are no sidewalks, except in the neighborhoods. And they're across big boulevards, and it's so hot, you can't even walk to the corner. So things like that affect how children can get to libraries. So there are a lot of things involved.

You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are.

I would drive on streets that were one-way and think, "Why are they all honking at me?"

I usually say Latina, Mexican-American or American Mexican, and in certain contexts, Chicana, depending on whether my audience understands the term or not.

When I say what I'm reading, this is what I need. I know the ills that plague me.

The border between the dead and the living, if you're Mexican, doesn't exist. The dead are part of your life.

My idea of a meal, if I was hungry, was to open a bag of potato chips.