I think this distinction does make sense, because it gives the reader a notice that the “forbidden stash” is very important to his mom since it takes them a while to collect the money Finalist for the National Book Award. A Time and People TopBook of Finalist for the Story Prize Chosen as a notable or best book of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The LA Times, Newsday, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, the iTunes bookstore, and many more Electrifying. –The New York Times Book Review When working on his first short story collection, Drown, Díaz explained that he was largely influenced by writers like Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros, whose work is concerned with narratives of immigrants and displaced like Drown, Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street follows a Latina-American immigrant growing up and expanding her The money in the “forbidden stash” is being referred to the money Diaz’s mom is saving up to send to her parents back in Santo Domingo.