Aside from dealing with her own identity issues, Lupe's got some other stuff going on. First of all, there's her family. No matter what her brother Carlos does to her, going so far as to threaten her life, her parents take his side. She's not safe in that house, but familia is supposed to come first. Outside the house, she's caught the attention of a couple of wealthy all-American girls, college students like herself. Sure, Lupe wouldn't mind having friends, but she can't help but feel that they see her as more of a charity case than a friend. On top of that, there's the typical chick-lit dilemma . . . which guy to chose? Lupe has been in love with Nash, a volunteer at the Vibe, since she's known him. Now, though, she's really falling for Will, another UCLA student who's having trouble figuring out what his dreams are and other people's dreams for him are, same as Lupe.

Lupe is just one of a cast of believable characters in Becoming Americana, most of whom were introduced in Lara Rios' Becoming Latina in 10 Easy Steps. Though it certainly isn't necessary to have read the previous book, readers will want to know more about these great characters and their lives. The plot isn't as predictable as most chick lit (but most of it wouldn't ever be called shocking), and does a fairly good job of keeping the reader absorbed. Lara Rios' writing is excellent; bad writing can distract from a good story, and I'm glad to be able to say that there's nothing to distract from the great story here. Unfortunately, the ending doesn't seem set up for a sequel...but one can always hope that another book about these fantastic characters is in the works!