Lupe Perez has grown up in Los Angeles. She now attends UCLA where she meets some fellow students who see in Lupe what she struggles to accept. Lupe is trying to become what an American really is. This story is her search for the definition of Americana while trying to live it and be accepted for it. The problem is that she really hasn't yet discovered the meaning of the words.

While others see Lupe's potential, she feels pulled in many directions. From the friend who saved Lupe as a young teen gang-banger and brought her to a safe place she owns where other troubled teens congregate to the psychologist who runs the center and becomes the love of Lupe's life, she has found a safety net, a safe haven. This is the place Lupe gives back to every day by helping teach safety classes and share her past.

At UCLA, Lupe's new friends pull her toward another life, one she sees as almost foreign. She doesn't have the money her friends have or the experience to fit in their circles. One of these friends falls in love with Lupe, introducing her to new experiences. She now has two men in her life; one who treats her as a sister because he recognizes he'd suffocate her dreams, and the other who wants her in his pre-planned future without realizing she'd suffocate his dreams.

Lupe struggles with her own dreams for her future. For each step she takes forward, her past and her family pull her back. Drugs, shootings and demands of loyalty cloud her views. It takes tragedy and pain for Lupe to realize what being Americana is all about and to realize she commands her future.

In BECOMING AMERICANA, Lara Rios has written a powerful depiction of life as a Latina in the United States and the personal struggles of one young woman trying to find her way in a confusing world. It's touching, exciting and a wonderful opportunity to begin to understand the many cultures in our world. I highly recommend BECOMING AMERICANA.