In a series of intimate essays, Alvarado moves from adolescence into adulthood while grappling with attachments that develop through her family and her ties to the wider world around her while she works as a teacher, writer, and caregiver. Though written from a single woman's perspective, these essays invite us to reflect on the many roles women play and the social factors that touch upon them. Alvarado's essays portray a broad world of experience, reflecting on class, race, and poverty in America with emotional depth and sensitivity.