Winner of the 2023 Soft Skull-Kimbilio Publishing Prize
Primarily told from the perspective of women and children in the Northeast who are tethered to fathers and families in Puerto Rico, these stories explore the cultural confusion of being one person in two places - of having a mother who wants your father and his language to stay on his island but sends you there because you need to know your family. These stories place readers at the center of the table to enjoy family traditions and holidays: the resplendent and universal language of survival for displaced or broken families. It's the characters-in-becoming that animate each story with special frequencies, especially for readers grappling split-identities themselves.