Stef Soto, Taco Queen

Stef (Estefania) Soto is the protagonist and point-of-view character of Stef Soto: Taco Queen. Throughout the novel, Stef struggles to find her place among her classmates while trying to assert independence from her overprotective parents. Her inability to define who she is stems from letting Tía Perla control how she views herself. Stef identifies with how the taco truck influences the views of those around her. Thus, when Julia calls Stef the taco queen, Stef feels like the words “cling to me like a stale smell” (22). Stef tries to distance herself from Tía Perla, but she is unsuccessful because the truck is tied to her culture, heritage, and family. Only when Tía Perla and the livelihood it affords Stef’s family is threatened does Stef finally start to become her own person independent of her feelings about the truck. Remembering how much Tía Perla means to her family and how much Stef’s family means to her gives Stef the courage she needs to stand up for herself, Tía Perla, and the life she knows her family deserves. This in turn allows Stef to become her own person at school, tell the truth about