Rodriguez begins with his first day in a Roman Catholic school in Sacramento, California. The author recalls how the nun pronounced his name when introducing him. This was the first time that Rodriguez, whose family spoke Spanish at home, had ever heard his name pronounced by an English speaker.

Rodriguez comments throughout his memoir on the connections between his early education and his later stances on educational policy. Later in his life, an education initiative known as bilingual education became fashionable. Rodriguez opposes it, believing that education breaks down the barrier between language at school and language at home, and that bilingual education prevents students from assimilating because the boundary between home and public is never crossed. Rodriguez differs from bilingual educators who believe that children lose their individuality when they assimilate to public society. Rather, Rodriguez believes that these children develop individuality within both the public and private (home) spheres.

Rodriguez’s parents were quite successful and lived in a middle-class gringo neighborhood, in contrast to other Latinos in Sacramento, who lived in another part of the city. Rodriguez and his family were isolated, caught between two worlds, and not fully able to assimilate.