Kira Moody

Twelve-year-old Mateo Cortez leaves Mexico to embark on a journey in search of his brother Julian, an artist who left home to find work and to paint in the United States, and from whom the increasingly worried family has not recently heard. Risking a border crossing, Mateo meets Angel, a girl his age who takes charge and helps him cross the river (Mateo can’t really swim) and stays with him on the long desert trek in search of Julian. Angel is a mystery to Mateo. Where is she from? Why is she helping him? It turns out that Angel feels she belongs nowhere and so takes on the role of his “guardian angel.” Mateo knows where he belongs