The First Rule of Punk

Malú’s dad gives Malú the six worry dolls in Chapter 2, prior to Malú and her mom moving from Florida to Chicago, and the dolls remain a consistent presence throughout the novel. The paper dolls are something that Malú turns to in moments of anxiety and worry, and she brings them with her on the day she apologizes to her bandmates for getting mad at Joe. The dolls function as a symbol both of Malú’s dad and of Malú’s youth, even as she moves farther away from both. While Malú grows increasingly more independent over the course of the book, she is still very much a child, and has frequent moments of not believing in herself or being unsure of how to feel or act in certain situations. The worry dolls provide a source of comfort for her, just as her dad does for the first half of the book, prior to Malú looking more toward Mrs. Hidalgo as a role model. By the time Malú and her band are prepping to play the Alterna-Fiesta, the dolls have disappeared from the narrative; Malú’s confidence has grown, and it seems unlikely that she will need them again in the future.