I didn't think I would like this book but I found it very readable. On the front cover there is an endorsement which says the book is 'at once heartbreaking and hilarious', there are certainly some funny moments but as the story is about two young girls living with a violent father, I found it quite disturbing. The comedy moments centre on Marcia (aged 11) and her frantic desire to be a boy as she like girls. Again though there is too much pathos in her situation to laugh for long and I felt great relief when the sisters escape to their grandmother. Well worth reading in spite of the Spanish dialect!