Tensions erupt like a volcano when the main characters, Izzy and her mother, don’t “see eye to eye” in Jennifer Cervantes’ excerpt from Tortilla Sun (Cervantes 21). Starting in the tile-flecked kitchen first thing in the morning and ending in Izzy’s dungeon-like bedroom moments later, the text lets us as readers eavesdrop on a conversation about moving that boils over rather quickly. When all is said and done, parent and child are left separated by a closed door (as well as vastly different perspectives on their journeys away from home). Essentially, the ways that Izzy and her mom look at the prospect of moving for the summer are so different that it sparks a conflict full of frustration, leaving their relationship torn and tattered.
First and foremost, conflict in the form of frustration…