The coming-of-age plot revolves around Ana Garcia, a Mexican-American teenager living in an East Los Angeles barrio. While attending Beverly Hills High School, where she is an accomplished student, she works in near-sweatshop conditions in her sister's dress factory alongside her mother, Carmen (Ontiveros), who considers this to be her younger daughter's vocation. But Ana, encouraged by her teacher Mr. Guzman (George Lopez), has dreams of attending Columbia. Before achieving her goal, she must try to balance her mother's traditional view of women with her own contemporary ideas while dealing with self-image issues and exploring a new romantic relationship.