The First Rule of Punk

Malú is the novel’s 12-year-old protagonist. Malú’s father is white; her mom is Mexican American. She grew up in Gainesville, Florida, and moves to Chicago with her mom early in the novel. Malú has dark hair, light brown skin, and dark eyes. She’s often changing her appearance in order to look more punk; the first manifestation of this occurs on Malú’s first day at Posada Middle School, when she applies copious eyeliner and subsequently receives a school dress-code violation for doing so. Her other big aesthetic change occurs toward the end of the book, when she dyes her hair green.

As someone about to enter her teenage years, Malú has just begun her search for a genuine, unique identity. At the novel’s outset, she leans heavily toward the punk rock and DIY portion thereof, eschewing her Mexican heritage as this portion of her identity she views as uncool. As the novel progresses, Malú is able to synthesize the punk and Mexican American portions of her identity, and, in doing so, takes the first steps toward forming a version of herself that is truly her own.