At its core, The First Rule of Punk is about Malú learning who she is; she is about to enter her teen years and finds herself, following her move to Chicago, geographically separated from her father and with a mother who, while ultimately very supportive, is often unaware of the ins and outs of Malú’s life. Further complicating Malú’s journey toward adulthood is that her father is white, and her mother is first-generation Mexican American. Malú’s maternal grandfather has passed away, after which Malú’s grandmother moved from Florida back to California, where she grew up. The effective disappearance of the generation that immigrated from Mexico to the US from Malú’s life functions as metaphor for Malú’s own feelings toward her Hispanic background early in the book—Malú is largely disinterested in embracing this part of her identity, focusing instead on music and making zines.

Complicating this further is the fact that Malú has a diverse racial background. Malú is unhappy with her mom for much of the book for moving Malú away from Florida, and, by extension, her dad and all she’s familiar with. While by the end of the book this notion shifts, early in the novel, Malú’s love of punk arrives as aligned with whiteness; the reader witnesses this perhaps most clearly in the Converse sneakers Malú chooses to wear, and which were a gift from her father.