From award-winning author Pablo Cartaya comes a deeply moving middle
grade novel about a daughter and father finding their way back to each
other in the face of their changing family and community.
Emilia Torres has a wandering mind. It's hard for her to follow along at
school, and sometimes she forgets to do what her mom or abuela asks. But
she remembers what matters: a time when her family was whole and home
made sense. When Dad returns from deployment, Emilia expects that her
life will get back to normal. Instead, it unravels.
Dad shuts himself in the back stall of their family's auto shop to work
on an old car. Emilia peeks in on him daily, mesmerized by his welder.
One day, Dad calls Emilia over. Then, he teaches her how to weld. And
over time, flickers of her old dad reappear. But as Emilia finds a way
to repair the relationship with her father at home, her community
ruptures with some of her classmates, like her best friend, Gus, at the
center of the conflict.
Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya is a tender story about asking big
questions and being brave enough to reckon with the answers.