Summary

The novel opens in the summer in the countryside near Ocoa, a town in the Dominican Republic. Nine-year-old Yunior and his twelve-year-old brother Rafa are walking to the local grocery store. Rafa mentions a boy named Ysrael and says that they should “pay that kid a visit” (3). There is then a break in the text, and Yunior narrates background information regarding his circumstances. They usually live in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, but their mother works in a chocolate factory during the summers and does not have time to look after her sons. Thus, she sends them to live with her brother in the countryside near Ocoa. Yunior narrates that his and Rafa’s life in the countryside is characterized by general boredom: “In the campo there was nothing to do, no one to see” (4). They do not have electricity or...