Importance of Gonzalo

Gonzalo is an eighth-grade boy who immigrated from the Central American country of Guatemala to Cleveland with his father. He learned how to speak English within two years by watching television and listening to the conversations at playgrounds. Because his father is able to speak little English and his elderly Tío Juan is not able to speak any English, Gonzalo has a proposed equation that when people immigrate to America, they get younger in inverse proportion to their age. Gonzalo compares his Tío Juan to a baby until he sees him work in the garden. Gonzalo realizes that Juan knows all about growing food, while Gonzalo knows nothing about gardening.