Summary

Book 2, “The Man Behind the Glass,” begins with a Prologue that brings us forward in time to 2010, when Reyna’s father, Natalio, dies from liver cancer and they are all brought together again. Chapter 1 then goes back to 1985 in September. They have just settled into Los Angeles. Reyna starts fifth grade, Carlos seventh, and Mago eighth. They all promise their Papi they will do well in school—if they receive any marks less than an A, he threatens, he will send them back to Mexico—and that they will keep their illegal status a secret. Reyna feels lost at her English-speaking school and sits in the corner and struggles to learn the alphabet. In Chapter 2, the children miss their mother and little sister. Carlos continues to wet himself in his sleep and Papi becomes so angry with him that he throws him...