The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora

“But the big details of my epic fail are all here.”

Arturo, the novel’s first-person narrator, opens his story with a Prologue titled “note to self.” He crafts this “note” while locked in the holding cell at Wilfrido’s festival, only hours after he has professed his feelings to Carmen and publicly voiced his objection to Wilfrido’s scheme. At this point, he has lost faith in his ability to “save the restaurant [… and] get the girl” (1). Later that night, this despair compels him to write about his epic failures (thus drafting the novel), which will prove to be a turning point in his struggle to find his voice.

“Yeah, I know I’m thirteen, but there’s just something about a bounce house that makes me feel awesome.”

When the novel begins, Arturo has just finished school for the year—and will presumably begin high school in a few months—and is looking forward to summertime fun with his friends. His admission that this includes jumping in a bounce house signals that he and his friends still have one foot in childhood. Arturo has not yet seriously examined his values and beliefs, but new developments will press him to think and speak for himself, thus nudging him toward young adulthood.