Learn about Zipacna and Jade's Characters
A Mysterious Letter
Jade, immersed in climbing the corporate ladder, madly chasing the American dream, receives a letter postmarked from Mexico. She knows no one there…except a grandfather she hasn’t seen or spoken to in twenty-five years. Not since her family visited there, and immediately afterward split into irreparable pieces.
A Scary Request
Jade meets Grampa Zipacna for the first time. He is imposing and powerful, but the five-year-old is inexplicably drawn to him. He asks her to do something he says is important. It’s something new and scary. But she trusts him and, although reluctant, does as he asks. It isn’t until many years later that she realizes the importance of this event. With that realization comes the dawn of a wonderful new life.
The Cycle of Life
Even though twelve years separate Zipacna and his half-brother Chaahk, they have been best of friends—mostly. They do have times with enormous clashes between the strong pair of personalities. Here, Chaahk’s free-as-a-bird lifestyle gets between them as they seek to forge a future together.
Secrets Kept, Secrets Revealed
Cadence and Abraham Stonemason adore their village of Chi’país, Mexico. They run the general store and participate in everything, from the farmers market to elections. When Cadence discovers her husband’s long-held secret, she is ready to run back to the States because when the townspeople find out—and in a small village secrets cannot be kept forever—their world will shatter beyond repair.
It's All In My Head
Six-year-old Miguel is frightened about things going on in his head. When he tells his father, hoping for answers, he finds himself taking a barrage of tests from a plethora of doctors. Not what he had in mind at all. But then, if they can stop what’s happening…
The Best Birthday Party Ever
Fifteen-year-old Zipacna is forced to attend a birthday party given by his dad’s boss. It wouldn’t be so bad except the celebration is for the boss’s six-year-old twin daughters. Frilly, giggly girls whose voices make his brain shrivel and his forehead crease. Maybe even worse than having to carry the pink-wrapped packages with the enormous bows: he isn’t allowed to take his journal. The day isn’t a total loss, he thinks as he sees the buffet table stretching on for miles. All he has to do is close his mind to the ear-shattering racket, grab a plate, and fill his gut until it’s time to go home. That’s what he thinks, until he sees a bench in the shadows of the ahuehete tree...