The Madonnas of Echo Park

Brando Skyhorse is the author of The Madonnas of Echo Park and the narrator of “Author’s Note.” His short narrative follows his experiences growing up and attending middle school in Echo Park during the 1980s. His classroom is composed of two self-segregating ethnic groups: the Vietnamese students and the Mexican students. As a child, Skyhorse is raised as Native American, so he is unaware he is part Mexican. Therefore, he feels unsure where to situate himself within classroom dynamics.

Skyhorse’s family appears to be middle class, as evidenced by his parents’ gift of a personal television with MTV, whereas most of his classmates live below the poverty line. Thus, he becomes a kind of pop cultural ambassador for students who can’t afford to watch MTV on their own. He refers to MTV as their “mutual language” (xii).

A typical pre-adolescent boy, Skyhorse does not understand physical attraction. He makes a pact with a group of boys that he will not dance with girls at the class’s MTV dance party. Thus, when a vibrant young Mexican-American student—Aurora Esperanza—asks her to dance, he turns her down because she is Mexican. Years later, he deeply regrets this decision, and he writes this book as a tribute to Aurora’s family and an apology for rejecting her (and unwittingly disowning his Mexican heritage).