Shirley Achor is a native of Dallas, Texas, and has spent most of her life in the city about which she writes. She holds a PhD in anthropology from Southern Methodist University. She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Traineeship and a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in Ethnic Studies. Dr. Achor is an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at East Texas State University.

"A very perceptive, authoritative and compact description of a Dallas Mexican-American community."—Dallas Morning News

"Shows that the barrio world also encompasses positive strengths, supportive values, and rich social and cultural complexity. There is much to be learned here"—El Paso Times