Nine-year-old Francine Garcia has to help look after her little brother, Alfond, while they stay with Auntie Flora so that Mama and Papa can take baby Ramón to Atlanta for a month of important medical treatments. And looking after Alfond isn't easy--he throws up all the time, and wrecks her things, and almost gets eaten by a tiger at the circus. Francine's recipe for joy at first involves finding a way to get herself to Atlanta too, but when that doesn't work out, she realizes that joy can be found in the most surprising places if you give it a chance.

"A new classic with a memorable heroine" -- School Library Journal, Starred Review

Read the first two chapters!