Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts going to school and the other children make fun of it.

"Thunder Boy Jr. wants a normal name, one that's all his own. Dad is known as Big Thunder, but Little Thunder doesn't want to share a name"--

Young Alma is trying to write her very long name on her paper–Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela– and it doesn’t fit. She doesn’t hesitate to air her frustration to her father who regales his daughter with the stories behind each name. “Then you decide if it fits,” he tells her. Cuddled together in a chair looking at photo albums, Alma learns about every family member from Grandma Sofia who loved poetry to Candela her other grandmother...

Penny instantly loves the doll her grandmother sends her, but finding the perfect name for her is a challenge.

With his mother's help, Carlos learns to write his name, as some of his friends can do.