First published 2011
Three brothers grow up in a household where love comes wrapped in violence and tenderness. They smash tomatoes on each other in wild games, construct kites from garbage, and creep through rooms while Ma recovers from her night shifts. Their father Paps brings Puerto Rican fire to his marriage with their white mother, a union that builds and destroys their family in endless cycles. The boys find refuge in each other during their parents' explosive fights, creating their own world of fierce loyalty and shared survival. But as the narrator grows older, the unity that once defined his existence begins to crack. He starts to see his family and himself differently, experiencing a isolation that cuts deep after years of total belonging. The boy who once found his identity in being one of three must now figure out who he is alone. Torres captures both the wild joy of childhood bonds and the painful awakening that comes with growing up different in a world that demands conformity.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Puerto Rico
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
128 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, violence