When I was a kid, my family moved from a predominantly Mexican American border community in San Diego to a sleepy beach town 20 miles up the coast. Surrounded by the dominant culture for the first time, I found myself gravitating toward the “American” part of my Mexican American identity. Her quiet presence was a constant in our lives, and though she may not have fit the version of the American Dream most books and movies peddled back in those days, she was our North Star. Thankfully, the American Dream we see in pop culture today is more expansive. In the opening pages of “Mexikid,” Martín riffs on his first name: “They call me Peter … but my real name is Pedro.

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Persons: Natividad, Pedro Martín, Levine Querido, Letisha Marrero, “, Peter …, Pedro, …, ” Organizations: North Star Locations: Mexican, San Diego, Natividad Burgos