Notes

‘School Library Journal’ best book of the year. Pat ents’ Choice gold award. Junior Library Guild selection.
Twelve-year-old Soledad and her seven-year-old sister, Ming, left their home in the Philippines after their mom died. Now they live in a dirty, cramped apartment in Louisiana with their evil stepmother, Vea, who blames the girls for their father's return to the Philippines. Sol has taken it upon herself to raise and protect her little sister. But Sol is starting to worry about Ming, who has formulated an impossible hope that their long lost Auntie Jove will come and rescue them. Afraid Ming is putting too much faith in a woman who doesn't exist, Sol vows to get her sister away from their stepmother and start a life for themselves. Along with her friend Manny, Sol takes Ming on an imaginary adventure, one that takes them beyond the reality of their circumstances and helps the girls form their own sort of family.