When Miguel's aunt Tía Lola comes from the Dominican Republic to Vermont to help out his Mami, who recently got divorced, Miguel is embarrassed by his unusual aunt: her beauty mark keeps changing places on her face, she drapes her lace mantilla across their windows, and she paints their house purple. Tía Lola's English is nonexistent — but how come she has no trouble making friends? And are the meatballs she puts in Miguel's lunchbox responsible for his making the baseball team? In each of these intertwining stories, Miguel finds his life changing in unexpected ways as he discovers himself.