In her story, the young character of Elena confronts her own history in past and in progress in connection with buildings that are a part of her life. Buildings are an important part of history because they produce the smells, feelings, and act as a set for the history that people create. In other words, buildings are places that retain history.
Buildings hold stories from the past to serve as a foundation for the future.
Each building in the story is representative of a certain aspect of Elena s life. The public school that Elena attends presents the struggle that she undertakes when interacting with other cultures. The school is an important part of her life because it is where she discovers a part of who she is and how different everyone is. One interesting aspect of the school is the fact that it is school number thirteen . The number thirteen has always been known as an unlucky number in our culture and presents an interesting twist to the story.