Stella Díaz Has Something to Say

Stella is nervous leading up to the spelling bee, but her friends and family support her in the days preceding it. Nick helps her practice, and her mom reassures her that she has the skills to do well. Jenny and Lauren, Stella’s new friend, help Stella stand up to her bully, Jessica. All these interactions remind Stella that she is loved and cared about (ultimately leading her to feel more comfortable at the spelling bee), illustrating The Value of Family and Friendship.

Hoping to offer inspiration, Stella’s mom tells Stella about Frida Kahlo, an iconic Mexican artist. Frida Kahlo struggled her entire life with chronic pain and physical disability, but despite this she was a prolific painter and a bold political activist. Like Stella’s family, Kahlo was from Mexico City but eventually moved to the US. She’s now seen as a prominent figure in the Chicano Movement, which aimed to embrace the heritage and identity of Mexicans living in America, while rejecting pressures to assimilate. Kahlo is a perfect role-model for Stella, as they both dealt with The Challenges and Rewards of Cultural Hybridity. Stella struggles to embrace her Mexican heritage because she feels like she doesn’t fit in with the other students at school, who, for example, laugh at her when she speaks with an accent. In Kahlo’s work, Stella sees that Mexican culture is a rich source of story and meaning. Stella wants to be an artist, like Frida Kahlo, so learning about Kahlo’s international success teaches her that she doesn’t need to hide or abandon her Mexican heritage to find an audience in the US. This inspiration helps Stella in her journey toward Finding Self-Confidence and Overcoming Fear.

Stella often compares herself to different species of aquatic animals, but this motif also applies to other characters. When Stella’s dad comes to pick her up, she is reading a book about narwhals. Immediately before explaining that she only sees her dad once a year, Stella says that “[n]arwhals are extra special because they are rarely seen” (154), implying a comparison in that both narwhals and her dad are scarce. The analogy becomes more complex the more Stella thinks about it. Over the course of their day together, Stella realizes that her dad is not a bad person like she used to believe: He is simply misunderstood, just like narwhals used to be.

Though the novel doesn’t offer an in-depth explanation of the folklore surrounding narwhals, Stella knows that hunters used to think they were “magical” (160). Inuit mythology holds that the narwhal came from an evil mother who tricked her starving son and secretly kept all her food for herself. The mother eventually gets dragged into the sea and turns into a narwhal. The evil mother in this story mirrors Stella’s father; Stella’s family considers him selfish because he doesn’t send them child support money, even though he seems to have enough money to buy himself expensive new cars. Stella realizes, though, that just as narwhals are innocent creatures, her dad is not as greedy as her family thinks. Neither of them deserves the harsh reputations they have, as they don’t take the full truth into account. Stella’s dad is not a good parent, but he tries his best despite not having the knowledge or resources to be a perfect father. Stella comes to this conclusion through her growing social skills and willingness to communicate with her dad in Spanish. Spanish is her dad’s preferred language, but it’s harder for Stella to speak. She works hard to find the confidence to speak Spanish to her dad to strengthen their connection. Ultimately, her efforts pay off.

When Stella learns to ride a bike, her mom and brother are there to support her. This is something she’s wanted to do for a long time and serves as another key example of Finding Self-Confidence and Overcoming Fear. Though riding the bike is scary at first, her family’s support gives her confidence. Stella’s mom lets her know that she doesn’t have to ride if she doesn’t want to, but Stella says, “I’m stronger than I think, right Mom?” (169). This recalls the advice her mother gave in Chapter 14 when Stella was being bullied: “You’re so much stronger than you realize. That’s why your full name is Estrella. You’re my star. You can light up the dark” (133). That this advice reappears at this crucial moment emphasizes that this is the key lesson of the book. Throughout all her challenging experiences, Stella has learned that she is capable of much more than she gives herself credit for.

In the final chapters, Stella gets two important opportunities to use her newfound confidence. The first occurs when she encounters Stanley at the aquarium. Though she hides from him at first, she ultimately finds the courage to ask him whether he shares her interest in marine life, and this shared interest opens the door to the friendship Stella hoped they would have. This is another moment in which Stella remembers advice she received earlier in the book. In this case, Stella remembers that her best friend Jenny told her that if she wants to get to know someone, she should ask them questions. The second opportunity occurs at the class presentation: Though Stella is nervous, she remembers the strength she has found within herself and delivers a stellar presentation. She also learns an important lesson here: Jessica, her bully, does not appear nervous at all when giving her presentation, but her presentation is among the most boring. Stella learns that feeling nervous is a sign that she cares, and caring is an asset.