Coming of Age

This novel is a coming of age story. Although Mila doesn’t grow completely up in the course of the novel, she does take a big step toward adulthood. She learns that parents lie to their children and realizes that she, too has lied. Mila also learns the depths of despair to which a person’s mistakes can take them. In the conclusion, she learns that just as a person gets themselves into a mess in their life, they are responsible for making the decision to stay in their mess of a life or end their life.

Mila is only 12 when she and her father go to America. Although she knows she is only a child and knows that there are instances where she lacks life experience because of her age, Mila is a reasonably mature 12 year old. She is able to pick up...