What is the importance of the theme "American girl".

"I try not to listen, but it hurts when they make fun of me," Tere says to her friend Alicia. She feels like an outsider, that she does not belong with her classmates. As "American Girls" develops, Tere comes to realize that she is an American girl—just as American as her classmates who speak English with ease. It is this central idea, the main theme, that ties the story's events together. As Tere's character grows, she realizes that she may be an immigrant and have trouble with her English, but she is an American girl, regardless.