A beautiful story about family and about chasing after someone who has left us and who is impossible to reach.

This was a sweet and lovely book, full of the magical realism that makes me miss my South American family full of people who all have the same name.

Little Eddie wants to win a fishing contest to feel close to his father, who died when Eddie was four. Eddie’s brother - Big Eddie - is supposed to come to the US to go to college, but family complications make that difficult. (Before you scoff at the idea of a father named Eddie naming not one but two sons after himself and his own father, I have two brothers named Alex. It’s a thing.)

This book deals gently with many difficult subjects, and I appreciated it a lot. More of this, especially with a target audience of young men, please.

Eddie’s best friend just moved to another state, and he is stuck in day camp until his older half-brother arrives from Colombia. However, his brother is not able to come visit after all, and Eddie is soon on his way to Colombia. Eddie learns about his heritage, his family, grief, love, and forgiveness over the life-changing summer.

This book was beautifully written and is one that middle grade readers will appreciate. It would make a good read aloud or book club book.

I received an electronic ARC from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing through NetGalley.
Fajardo spins a story of a half-Columbian young man who struggles to find who he is while growing up in Minnesota. His dad died when he was four and his mom rarely talks about him. Hes left to figure out wh0 his dad was and how he remains in his life. He discovers that his dad won a medal in a local fishing competition so decide to enter himself as a connection point. That could be enough for a story but more levels of tragedy and grief interweave with this plotline. His older half-brother is coming to stay with them while he attends university. Big and Little Eddie share a dad. Big Eddie's mom was killed in a car accident long before. It was after that tragedy that their dad married Little Eddie's mom and had him. One more spin, Big Eddie cannot come to Minnesota after all as his Abuela is dying from cancer. So, Little Eddie flies to Columbia and learns more about his family and his heritage.
The book contains some wonderful detail about Columbian life. Both Eddies learn more about each other and the younger brother learns about life and history and his cultural heritage. He also finally learns more about his dad.
There are other subplots as well and they weave together to make points in the end.
However, the many interweaving plot points will discourage some readers from staying with this book. It's a bit too long and too heavy on repeated details. One more edit would have helped tie up some of the connection points and still keep the story intact.

Little Eddie lives with his hard-working mother in Minnesota. He goes to summer camp where he meets the a girl with the coolest purple hair, Cameron. It was totally spontaneous how they met and how in that first time they met they planned to be partners in a local fishing tournament; the tournament that his father won 3rd place in many years ago. Little Eddie doesn't have his father anymore, he died and it's been just him and his mom. All he has are memories from long ago locked up in his garage where he can't easily get them. But he knows that he got third place in this same fishing tournament because he found his father's medal. He treasures it and keeps it in his pocket. Little Eddie is half-Colombian and his half-brother, Big Eddie, is supposed to stay with him and his mom for part of the summer because he was going to attend school. Well, in Colombia, Big Eddie has to stay with his abuela. She has cancer and is not doing well. Little Eddie, who has never left Minnesota, is invited to spend the summer with his older half-brother. Little does he know, what he is going to learn.

In this book, we learn a lot about the struggles of Little Eddie and his ability to feel comfortable in his skin. He doesn't know Spanish and he tries to learn what it is like to be a true "Colombian" - he feels like a fish out of water. While he is in Colombia magic unfolds and things that look like one thing turn into another. He also learns a lot about his Papa and what it means to be himself.