I had many reasons for writing this book but among them was the hope that every Latino child and adult would find something familiar in it. And my hope is that when they finish reading the book, that they will come away with a renewed sense of pride in our culture and in who we are. We get a lot of strength from that [culture and identity] and we should be proud of it.

When you come from a background like mine, where you're entering worlds that are so different than your own, you have to be afraid.

The dynamism of any diverse community depends not only on the diversity itself but on promoting a sense of belonging among those who formerly would have been considered and felt themselves outsiders.

Same way I have my entire life. Keep my family and friends close. My Latino friends close. I visit the island [Puerto Rico] as often as I humanly can.

Sometimes, even if there was no useful advice to give, I saw that listening still helped.

There are no bystanders in life [...] Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.

I am a very spiritual person. Maybe not traditionally religious in terms of Sunday Mass every week, that sort of thing.