Matt's stomach stabs and twists, pleading for a meal, but Matt won't give in. The hunger clears his mind, keeps him sharp -- and the less he eats the more he seems to have the ability to see things he shouldn't be able to see. Maybe even the authority to bend time and space. And Matt needs to be as sharp as possible if he's going to find out just how Tariq and his band of high school bullies drove his sister, Maya, away. But Matt doesn't realize there...

Summer, 1991. The people of Cuba are living in el periodo especial en tiempos de paz - the special period in times of peace. That's what the government insists that this era must be called, but the reality behind these words is starvation. Hunger has made Liana brave: she finds the courage to skip a summer of so-called volunteer farm labor, even though she risks government retribution. Amado also refuses to comply, so he wanders alone, trying to discover...

Verano de 1991. El pueblo de Cuba está en medio del "Período Especial en tiempos de paz". Así es como insiste el gobierno que sea llamada esta era, pero la realidad detrás de estas palabras es la hambruna. Liana está en aprietos en su empeño de encontrar suficiente para comer. Y, aun así, el hambre también la ha hecho valiente. Encuentra el coraje para no asistir durante el verano al presunto campamento de trabajo voluntario, aunque sabe que...