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"Here, all along I'd been thinking that the real problem—my problem—was being locked into me and and my family.  All those secrets...being pretend Catholics, pretend believers, pretend everything." One of the few lyrical novels about the complexities of growing up Jewish in Central America.  Sandy Fischer's story shows the contradictions of life in a beautiful and violent country, and the struggles of a young girl trying to make sense and find her way.  But what is the price, particularly for a girl growing into womanhood, of belonging in such a rigid and fearful world—of forcing oneself not to fully register the violence that is steadily intensifying in Guatemala?  In the middle of these struggles, the country suffers an earthquake that reveals its oppressive structures.

"Here, all along I'd been thinking that the real problem—my problem—was being locked into me and and my family.  All those secrets...being pretend Catholics, pretend believers, pretend everything." One of the few lyrical novels about the complexities of growing up Jewish in Central America.  Sandy Fischer's story shows the contradictions of life in a beautiful and violent country, and the struggles of a young girl trying to make sense and find her way.  But what is the price, particularly for a girl growing into womanhood, of belonging in such a rigid and fearful world—of forcing oneself not to fully register the violence that is steadily intensifying in Guatemala?  In the middle of these struggles, the country suffers an earthquake that reveals its oppressive structures.