The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year-that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S.

Meticulous pacing and finely nuanced characters underpin the author's gift for affecting prose that illuminates the struggles within relationshipsĪ Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart. 'That's a very Ari answer,' he said.… For a few minutes I wished that Dante and I lived in the universe of boys instead of the universe of almost-men.' Plot elements come together at the midpoint as Ari, adding up the parts of his life, begins to define himself. Sáenz's interplay of poetic and ordinary speech beautifully captures this transitional time: ' 'That's a very Dante question,' I said. An accident near the end of summer complicates their friendship while bringing their families closer. The two develop an easy friendship, ribbing each other about who is more Mexican, discussing life's big questions, and wondering when they'll be old enough to take on the world. Ari, a loner who's good in a fight, is caught off guard by the self-assured, artistic Dante. On a whim, Ari heads to the town swimming pool, where a boy he's never met offers to teach him to swim. His father also keeps his experience in Vietnam locked up inside. He doesn't know why his older brother is in prison, since his parents and adult sisters refuse to talk about it. A boring summer stretches ahead of Ari, who at 15 feels hemmed in by a life filled with rules and family secrets.

Aristotle dante