Caroline is seven when her family flees Pinochet's regime, leaving Chile for Montreal on Christmas Eve, 1986. She fears Santa won't find them on the plane but wakes to find a new Barbie doll, her mother preserving the holiday even amidst persecution and turmoil. Once in Canada, Caroline accompanies her parents as they clean banks at night; she experiences racist micro aggressions at school, discovers Québécois popular culture, and explores her love of reading and writing in French. Slowly, the Andean peaks disappear from her drawings. As her family increases their wealth and status—moving...
Caroline is seven when her family flees Pinochet's regime, leaving Chile for Montreal on Christmas Eve, 1986. She fears Santa won't find them on the p...