Each of these narrative poems in The History of Home encapsulate the real world of childhood: they are gritty, but at the same time they reveal a kind of honest innocence. We meet the Sisters of Charity who belittle their students, a retarded neighbor who entertains children with his flexible joints, and boys who dream of the power of Spanish fly. In spite of the poverty and hardship that form the backdrop for most of these poems, the characters here do find joy - as when a group of boys discovers that with a nickel and a coat hanger they can play pinball all afternoon, a quiet girl beats Sister Ann at tetherball, and Kenny surreptitiously wears basketball knee pads to spare himself the discomfort of hours of kneeling during a retreat. It is in these moments that Quintana allows his characters to transcend their lives and experience flashes of true grace.