In the memoir ordinary girls Jaquira Diaz grows up struggling with poverty and issues with her family as well with her own sexuality. Her father was a drug dealer and her mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Both her parents would usually get into arguments causing them to eventually separate once they moved to Miami for a better life. Even though she was surrounded by love from her friends, the division of her family broke Diaz and led her to make bad decisions in life. Diaz basically struggled to search for identity her whole adult teen years. She was used to the violence and harassment in Puerto Rico so she expected that in Miami.“I was there a couple of years ago. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. I hadn’t been there in a very long time, because everyone who’s ever lived there who has been lucky enough to get out knows that you don’t go back.”