Summary

Chapter 1, “Grand Failure,” is written from Virgil’s perspective. Virgil returns home from school at the beginning of summer vacation. He has just completed the sixth grade. He is not happy because things are not going well for him at school, and he does not believe that the situation will improve in the future. His grandmother, Lola, greets him and knows that something is wrong with him, but he does not confide in her even though he knows that they share a special relationship. Lola slices a mango for him, telling him that his mother bought too many. Then she tells him about a recurring dream she has had about a Stone Boy. Afterwards, she compares him to a boy called Federico the Sorrowful. She tells him he can talk to her if he needs to as Virgil goes to his room to...