The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora

Thirteen-year-old Arturo is the first-person narrator of the novel. He lives in Miami, Florida, with his parents, Caridad and Robert, along with his extended family, in their own apartment complex. Arturo’s maternal grandparents, Veronica and Arturo Zamora, immigrated from Cuba in the 1970s, settled in Canal Grove, a Cuban-American neighborhood, and there established a successful restaurant. When Arturo’s narrative begins, he is anticipating a lazy summer “swinging on banyan trees” (4) and jumping with his friends, Bren and Mop, in Bren’s bounce house. Although he will soon be heading to high school, Arturo is content to relish the simple pleasures of childhood. His comfortable, carefree life has lacked any challenges that would press him to examine his views and voice them. At 13, Arturo happily defers decision-making to others and has had little opportunity to build confidence in his own ideas and opinions.

Arturo cherishes his close relationship with his grandmother, Abuela, who is ill. Although Arturo does not grasp the gravity of her condition, she does, and decides it is time to give him the box of letters his grandfather, Abuelo, wrote to him before his death. Through these letters, Abuelo shares his life in Cuba, his love for Arturo’s grandmother, and the lessons about both life and love he gained from the writings of poet