What are character traits about Tiago in the book, Harbor Me?

Tiago's family is originally from Puerto Rico. He is very familiar with the specifics of the culture as his mother keeps the traditions very much alive in their home. He is. however, very quiet around other people, mostly because he has witnessed his mother being shamed publicly for speaking Spanish. He believes the language is beautiful and it is completely reasonable for him to speak it in America. Puerto Rico is part of the United States, so it seems only natural to him that Spanish should be consider an acceptable form of speech. It also makes his sad that people think people who come from other parts of the world should abadon their ways. As a way of acting on his belief, he gave his dog the name Perrito, because the double r sound could only be properly made by someone who was familiar with speaking Spanish. The dog only responded to his name when people properly rolled the r's.