Journeying with Esperanza for the year that we get to be with her and her family on Mango Street, is a balm to witness her own coming to herself as she remembers that as much as she wants to leave and never return to this neighborhood, she will return to help the people she has left behind. “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.” She realizes her responsibility to her community.