Patricia Gandara is Associate Professor of Education at University of California, Davis.

"The voices of these young people come through strongly. Gándara has resisted the urge to 'translate' for them and the messages are explicit. I like the breadth of the study and the fact that Gándara went back and compared those who'd completed their higher education during the 70s and 80s with those who finished more recently. This provides information on the impact of social change, and reaffirms those factors that are enduring in their impact on Chicana educational achievement." — Kip Tellez, University of Houston"The personal narratives in this book are evocative and poignant. They advance insights into the strengths of minority households, rather than focusing on the 'deficits' which are said to lead to academic underachievement. This book adds a revelatory dimension to unpacking educational experiences." — Norma Gonzalez, University of Arizona

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Preface Introduction 1. The Study 2. Home Influences 3. Family Stories as Cultural Capital 4. Schools and Neighborhoods 5. Peers 6. Personal Attributes and Individual Differences 7. The Women 8. Summary and Conclusions 9. Lessons for School Reform Appendix Bibliography Index