Mandy Gonzalez: My name is Mandy Gonzalez and yes, it is Mandy. A lot of people say Amanda. Yes, Amanda is in the book but my name is Mandy and I was named after a very famous song from the 1970s called Mandy. I think it was written in 1977 maybe, by Barry Manilow and it was actually one of my parents' favorite songs. And I remember there were maybe two of us named Mandy in my class growing up in grade school and whenever I was introduced to somebody, the first thing they would say is, "Oh, are you Amanda?" And I'd say "No, I'm Mandy." Even today, I still have to explain that. I love being Mandy and I love it especially when people sing the song to me.

Even sometimes, my friends, they pronounce my name wrong. One of my friends was teasing me about my name and I said, "Okay, because you tease me about my name, you have to sing the song Mandy to me." And he did! "Oh Mandy. Well you came and you gave without taking, but I sent you away. Oh Mandy." I absolutely love it.

And Gonzalez is my family name. It represents so much of who I am and it represents my abuelos and my father, my mother, everybody. Every time I hear that name, it makes me feel like they're with me.