Chapter 1: Punished 1. PUNISHED Camila was crying. This was not exactly unusual for sensitive Camila. What was unusual was that Camila was crying about school. As far as her cousin Jorge could tell, quiet, straight-A Camila was an academic whiz. But there sat Camila, cross-legged in the prickly grass, crying about how much trouble she was in. Jorge was kneeling in front of her, trying and failing to be comforting. "What''s the big deal?" Jorge said.
It was hard to understand Camila between sobs, but apparently it was all about some books she had brought to school. "So your teacher told you to bring the books back home. Who cares?" Camila burst into an even more hysterical sob. She was clutching a piece of paper, which she held out to Jorge. "That''s not all. The principal sent this letter to the whole school. The principal , Jorge! I can never go back there now." Jorge took the paper.
It was on very official-looking Sunshine Middle School stationary. But for a change, the letter wasn''t about Camila''s latest honor roll achievement. In fact, without ever mentioning her name, the letter made Camila sound like some kind of criminal. Jorge mouthed the words quietly as he read: Dear Parents, Students, and Faculty, Yesterday it came to my attention that a student brought several inappropriate books to school with the intention of distributing them to other students. The books were confiscated in a timely manner, and I wish to reassure you that Sunshine Middle School prohibits the circulation of unapproved books within our school. Sincerely, Principal Santos "Geez, Cami," Jorge said. "What kinds of books were these, anyway?" "They were for my friend Marisol." Camila sniffled.
It was news to Jorge that Camila had friends that weren''t household pets, but he decided to play it cool. "The girl who just moved into that house on Glades Street?" Camila nodded miserably. "Sooo. what were the books?" Jorge grinned. "Come on, you can tell me." It was fun to imagine well-behaved Camila sneaking racy romances into school. He always thought the books she read were about puppies and kittens and that sort of thing, but apparently he had been wrong. "It''s not like that!" Camila shrieked.
"I swear, they were just normal books. In Spanish!" "Oh, right," Jorge said. "Marisol doesn''t speak much English yet." Marisol was one of the immigrant kids who had started at their school recently. Jorge and Camila''s aunt Xía had been going to visit the new families as much as possible, which was probably how Camila and Marisol had gotten to be friends in the first place. It helped that the cousins were bilingual--talking to Marisol in Spanish wasn''t a problem. "So the books were in Spanish," Jorge prompted. He tried to think of how Cami could have gotten in so much trouble if the books weren''t about anything scandalous.
"Were you using them to pass notes in class?" "No!" Camila wailed. "Principal Santos said it''s because we shouldn''t read books about race in school!" "Oh." Jorge paused. " Were they books about race? How did Principal Santos know what the books were about--does she even speak Spanish?" "She doesn''t! And they weren''t!" Camila said. "I just brought Marisol a couple of my favorite books in Spanish. You know, about Latino kids. Like us." Jorge frowned.
It sure seemed to him like Camila had been framed. She hadn''t done anything wrong. "The worst part," Camila said sadly, "is that now Marisol probably hates me. She got in trouble too--and she didn''t even get to read the books." Suddenly Jorge had a brilliant idea. He knew exactly how he would cheer up his cousin. "Wait here, Cami. I have a great idea.
" He stood up and ran inside the house. It was a Monday, which meant that Jorge, Camila, and their other cousin Siggy were all at their aunt Xía''s house after school. As usual, Siggy was busy recording videos, and Tía Xía was working in her bedroom. Neither of them noticed Jorge beelining it for the kitchen. In the kitchen, Jorge scrambled up to the counter and stood on it to reach the highest cabinet. This was where Tía Xía stored her prime snacks and desserts, like dulce de leche-filled alfajores from her trips to South America. Jorge spent a lot of time perusing this cabinet, which was how he had found the treasures he was about to bring Camila. Jorge reached into the back of the cabinet and pulled down an old book and two ratty hand puppets.
One of the puppets looked like a mouse, and the other like a cockroach--but both of the animals were dressed in fancy, though now faded, clothing. He jammed the book and puppets under his arm and jumped down from the counter. In a second he was out the front door. "Cami!" Jorge shouted. "Look! Tía Xía has this cool old book. You could show it to Marisol. It''s in English but it has a lot of Spanish words and it''s pretty easy. Here.
" Camila, who had finally stopped crying, took the book curiously. " Perez and Martina ," she said, reading the title aloud. "Oh! It''s a story about the Cucaracha Martina and the Ratoncito Perez." Her mom was always telling the famous folktale about a cockroach named Martina and a mouse named Perez. She thumbed through the book, admiring the illustrations and the heavy old paper. "Let''s bike over to Marisol''s house and show it to her," Jorge urged. "It''s so cool. She can''t be mad at you if you bring her a peace offering.
" Camila turned the book over. "I don''t know," she said thoughtfully. "It''s not ours. Do you think Tía Xía would mind?" Jorge raised an eyebrow. In his best imitation of their aunt, he said, "¡Mi cielo! What''s yours is mine! You never have to ask your tía!" For the first time since she was called into the principal''s office that afternoon, Camila burst out laughing. "You''re right," she said. "Tía Xía always tells us to take whatever we''d like, especially her books." "Let''s go see Marisol," Jorge said, relieved that Camila had finally stopped crying.
Camila scrambled to her feet. "Hey, what are those?" She pointed to the puppets, still tucked under Jorge''s arm. Jorge loaded a puppet onto each hand. "Perez and Martina, at your service!" he squeaked, making the mouse puppet''s mouth move up and down. "Whoa," Camila said. "I wonder where those came from?" "You know Tía Xía." Jorge shrugged. "She''s always collecting old stuff from thrift stores.
" He led the way toward the garage, where there was a jumble of sort-of working bikes for the cousins to use. But before they got to the garage, a boy stepped in their way, casting a long shadow down the driveway. Jorge groaned. Cooper Tumbor lived in the house behind Tía Xía''s. He was rich, and he was a bully. "What do you want, Cooper?" Jorge really didn''t need Cooper''s energy in his life right now. "Got yourself some new gloves?" Cooper smirked. Jorge looked down at his arms.
He hadn''t taken off the hand puppets. Camila stood next to him, clutching the book. In a flash, Cooper grabbed the book out of Camila''s hands. "More illegal books, Camila? Geez, I never thought a Goody Two-shoes like you would get in this much trouble." "You heard?" Camila gasped. Cooper chuckled. "The entire school heard." Camila gaped at him.
Cooper was a year ahead of her, in Siggy''s grade. Today had been bad enough, but it was even worse if even the eighth graders had heard about it. "Give that back," Jorge snapped. He reached for the book, but with the puppets on his hands, he fumbled, giving Cooper enough time to snatch it away. Angrily, Jorge ripped the puppets off his hands and let them fall to the ground. "I mean it!" he snapped. "That''s our book!" Jorge lunged forward, but Cooper was too quick. He ducked under Jorge''s outstretched arm and plucked the Martina the cockroach puppet off the ground.
"Gosh, what a dirty old rag," he said with a sneer. "Is this what your aunt uses to clean her house? No wonder the place is filthy." Camila''s back straightened. "It is not!" she yelled. Tía Xía, whatever her faults, was never happier than when she was bleaching everything in sight. Her house wasn''t new and fancy like Cooper''s, but it was definitely clean. But Cooper just grinned. "Guess no one will mind if I drop these in the dumpster where they belong, then.
" By this point, Jorge had thrown his entire body at Cooper, trying to knock him off his feet, but Cooper was a lot bigger and taller than Jorge, and he was holding the book and the puppet high in the air. "I think it''s my responsibility to make sure your delinquent cousin doesn''t spread around more delinquent literature," Cooper said with a cruel laugh. Now Camila threw herself at Cooper too. "There''s nothing wrong with that book!" she shouted at him. "You''re the one who''s a bully!" Finally, Jorge managed to knock the book out of Cooper''s hands. "Got it!" he shouted triumphantly, racing across the yard and away from Cooper. Cooper whirled around; the Martina puppet flew off his hand. Camila scooped it up, grabbed the Perez puppet too, and took off after her cousin.
They only had a half-second head start, and Cooper''s legs were a lot longer. "Jorge!" Camila called. "What are we going to do? He''s gaining on us!" Jorge looked over his shoulder. Cooper was just a few feet behind them. Jor.