At 11, Groovy already knows that she will become a chef, as famous as her science fiction author grandmother. But her plans for culinary school go up like a puff of flour from the baker’s hands when her father goes to jail and her mother is reluctant to tell her why.
Groovy takes refuge in the café nearby where Luis uses his grandmother’s secret recipes to make the best tacos in Capistrano, food that brings fishermen and tourists alike to the little store.
Luis also watches over his stepbrother Frankie, Groovy’s best friend, after Frankie’s mother left on a short fishing trip – over two years ago. No word from her for a year, then the letters start to arrive, and Frankie tears them up without reading them…
Every year the swallows fly thousands of miles from South America back to their town in springtime. But this year, they are early, and the changes in the children’s lives make Groovy and Frankie wonder if anything will ever be normal again.
Listen for the swallows’ wings as you visit Groovy and Frankie by the sea – you might even smell those famous tacos or taste Groovy’s amazing chocolate-covered strawberries.
Recommended by: Katy Manck, Librarian-at-Large (retired academic/corporate/school librarian), Gilmer, Texas, USA
