Pedro is ten years old, growing up in Bogotá and carrying a lot — an absent father, a bully at school, and a longing to see the ocean. When his mother finally takes him to a Caribbean island, he grows a quarter inch with happiness. Then things go wrong, and Pedro runs — and finds Johnny, a gruff beach hermit with a talkative parrot named Victoria. A Colombian novel with glints of magical realism. A 2025 Batchelder Honor Book. For ages eight and up.