Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the fukú--the curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents,...

"It's basketball season for the home team but Gus must wrestle with prejudice when he's the only one bothered by Cassie joining the boys' team and his teammate Steve makes fun of Gus's Dominican heritage"--

Caught between the old world & the new, is where the four Garcia sisters find themself after fleeing the Dominican Republic to mainstream America. This evokes the difficulties, tension & joys of belonging to two different cultures.

A modern retelling of the myth, Orpheus and Eurydice, in which Eury leaves Puerto Rico for the Bronx, haunted by losing all to Hurricane Maria and by evil spirit Ato, and meets a bachata-singing charmer, Pheus.

Oscar is an overweight Dominican from the ghetto in New Jersey. He dreams of becoming a writer and finding love, but Fukœ, the curse has haunted his family for generations. Also included is the short story "Drown".

After the ice cream stand where she works is robbed, seventeen-year-old Minerva Gutiérrez plans to get revenge on her predatory boss while navigating grief, anger, and dreams of escape from her dead-end hometown.

"Sisters Matilde, Pastora, Camila, and Flor thought they knew each other well, until Flor--inspired by a documentary her daughter Ona made her watch--decides she wants a living wake, a party to bring her family and community together and celebrate the long life she's led, while she's still around to enjoy it. She's not ill, as far as anybody knows, but Flor does have a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. Has she foreseen her...

"While doing research for her documentary about her cousin Natasha--who disappeared in the Dominican Republic fifty years ago during the Trujillato--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 bogeyman if she hopes to free Natasha and return home to Chicago. Includes...

"When Miosotis Flores discovers that her sister Amarilis's fiancé is physically abusive to her, she must decide how to help, while also caring for a rescue dog and pursuing better grades in school."--

A collection of stories that explores the heartbreak and radiance of love as it is shaped by passion, betrayal, and the echoes of intimacy.