Sae Young's voice is very different from the other characters in Paul Fleischman's novel. First, she has very broken English. She talks in short phrases using incorrect grammar. Here is an example: 

Always many people in my house when I was young. Five sisters. Many friends. I always liked being with people. Then I leave Korea with my husband to come to America, for work. We buy dry cleaning shop, live next block. Dry cleaning shop better than restaurant. Don't have to speak English too much and only work six days.

Her voice is also different because of the trials she's encountered. While each character has a challenge or issue, Sae Young has experienced the a type of trauma that others have not. First, she leaves her home and family to follow her husband to America. She states that they moved for work, and they buy a dry cleaning shop. When her husband dies at age thirty-seven, Sae is alone in the United States. Then, a gunman robs and physically assaults her in her shop. After this, she becomes fearful of leaving her apartment. A neighbor brings her food for two months because she won't leave the apartment. Slowly, she begins to heal emotionally and physically. She realizes she is lonely and wants to be around people again. She is inspired by the garden and begins to work in it. Sam and the others talk to her until she feels she is part of a family again. 

Gonzalo's story is similar in that language was a challenge for Gonzalo at first, too. It is an even bigger struggle for his uncle, Tio Juan. Gonzalo discusses the idea that when you move to another country, you become younger, like a child, because you are dependent on others to help you communicate and for many other activities of daily living. Gonzalo mentions that when he became confident in speaking English, he felt he had become older, while his older relatives had become younger. They depended on him for their needs, not the other way around. 

Gonzalo experienced the reverse of what Sae Young did. He became a caretaker and guardian for his uncle, who became like a child. Sae Young became helpless, like a child, after the robbery. This is how their two stories connect.