Chapter 8 Summary

This is a chapter about firecrackers. Cohetes is the Spanish word for them, a word that Eire feels expresses the power and beauty of firecrackers so much better. Carlos, Tony, and Louis XVI always go to Chinatown to get the firecrackers, for that is where they have the best ones. The firecrackers are all red, even the wrappers. Chinatown is full of scary things like large dragons and heathen deities, but the firecrackers made it worth the trips.

One time, the boys decide to try to send a chameleon up to space. They tie the lizard unto a bundle of firecrackers and light them. When the firecrackers explode, there is nothing left. Another time, Carlos picked up a firecracker that seems to be a dud, only to have it explode in his hand. He is rushed to an emergency room. He is treated...