"Antonio works making spreadsheets for Bank of America, but not-so-secretly wants to be a great writer-or indeed to do anything that will help him avoid thinking about his sister, a paranoid schizophrenic on the run from the police. Antonio's attempts to write a novel become an ekphrastic performance of avoidance and evasion, darting between the past and the present to consider relationships erotic and familial, the worlds of architecture and literature,...

"Mateo Castillo is a rising star chef on the Manhattan culinary scene. But just as he's about to reap the rewards of his skill and hard work by being featured on a major TV cooking competition, Mateo collapses in his restaurant's kitchen and regains consciousness in a hospital emergency room. If it weren't for a security guard finding him in time, Mateo would have bled to death. The cause of his sudden illness is as mysterious as it is worrying, and...

Newly arrived from Colombia, Isabella's first day of school in the United States is cancelled because of snow and when Isabella notices a girl playing outside she makes a new friend, despite the language barrier.