What are Laura's struggles, challenges and successes?

Hernandez compassionately depicts the lasting and heavy weight of trauma upon young people. Whether it is physical trauma, such as Laura and Bing's abuse at the hands of their fathers; neglect, as with Laura and both her parents but especially her mother; or emotional trauma, as Bing experiences when he is bullied by his father and his peers, these children carry with them scars that continue to manifest themselves as feelings of low self-worth, physical reactions like Laura "turning herself off," and pervasive conjuring of the negative memories. Through people like the doggedly supportive and nurturing Ms. Hina and welcoming, safe places like the literacy center, though, such trauma can begin to be healed, even if only a minuscule amount.