After his Dominican Grannie tells him of her attempts to catch the mischievous Ti Bolam when she was young, Christopher decides he will go after the strange being himself.

While doing research for her documentary about her cousin Natasha -- who disappeared in the Dominican Republic fifty years ago during the Trujillo dictatorship -- twelve-year-old Pilar Violeta Ramirez is transported to Zafa, an island where Dominican myths and legends come to life and where her cousin is being held captive in a sinister magical prison, and Pilar must defeat the Dominican boogeyman if she hopes to free Natasha and return home to Chicago....

When she has to draw a picture of where she immigrated from, Lola asks her family, friends, and neighbors about their memories of her homeland.

"Lola was just a baby when her family left the Island, so when she has to draw it for a school assignment, she asks her family, friends, and neighbors about their memories of her homeland ... and in the process, comes up with a new way of understanding her own heritage"--

Worried that Papa Espada cannot find a job, Tía Lola, Juanita, Miguel, and the "Sword" sisters decide to start a bed and breakfast at Colonel Charlebois's Vermont house. "Con la ayuda de sus sobrinos y de las tres hermanas Espada, tía Lola abrirá a las puertas de la majestuosa casa antigua del coronel Charlbois a visitante de todas las procedencias. Pero pronto se darán cuenta de que poner a funcionar este pequeño hotel no resulta tan facil...

"A young Dominican girl navigates middle school, her strict mother, shifting friendships, and her dream of being an artist"--

"With the English and Spanish text side by side on the page, this bilingual edition of the vibrant picture book celebrating the strength of community and the versatility of plátanos is ideal for bilingual readers as well as Spanish speakers learning English and vice versa. Paletero Man meets Fry Bread in this vibrant and cheerful ode to plátanos, the star of Dominican cuisine, written by award-winning poet Lissette Norman, illustrated by Sara Palacios,...