Carla Garcia is summoned from class and told her family must leave for America that night.

SIM secret police arrive at the compound searching for the Garcia family and search the entire house.

The Washburn family, led by an American consul, moves into the compound next to Anita's family.

Anita and Sam discover someone moving inside Tio Toni's casita, which had been closed since his disappearance.

Mami tells Anita about the plot against Trujillo and orders her to stop writing in her diary.

The dictator El Jefe appears in person at Susie Washburn's quinceañera party.

El Jefe sends a bouquet of roses to Lucinda the morning after the quinceañera.

Lucinda receives a visa and departs for New York, leaving Anita without another family member.

Police discover hidden guns in Mr. Washburn's car trunk during a traffic stop but let them go.

Papi announces the Dominican Republic is free, but the men learn that Pupo cannot be found.

SIM storms the compound and Anita watches Papi and Toni loaded into a car trunk with bound hands.

Anita and Mami flee the compound and go into hiding at Mr. Mancini's house.

Wimpy and commandos rescue Anita and Mami, airlifting them by helicopter to a plane bound for New York.

Anita's grandfather tells her that Papi and Toni have been officially executed by the regime.

Anita makes snow angels in New York, sees them as butterflies, and vows to live as Papi wished.

The novel opens as Anita's cousin Carla is abruptly pulled from school and her family flees to America, leaving Anita behind while SIM searches the compound. The Washburn family moves in next door offering some protection, but danger escalates when Anita and Sam discover someone hiding in Tio Toni's sealed casita. Trujillo himself appears at a quinceañera and fixates on Lucinda, forcing the family to arrange her urgent escape to New York. The men of the family carry out their plan to assassinate Trujillo and Papi announces the country is free, but the military leader Pupo fails to appear, unraveling the revolution. SIM captures Papi and Toni, forcing Anita and Mami into hiding until a daring helicopter rescue brings them to New York. Anita learns her father has been executed but chooses to honor his sacrifice by vowing to live as he wished.

The headline events of Anita's journey from compound to exile.

A black butterfly flies over the dinner table as the family watches the Garcias prepare to leave.

Lucinda whispers to Anita on the balcony that SIM has bugged the house and is hunting Uncle Toni.

Anita overhears Papi speaking in code on the phone, referencing butterflies and a tennis shoe delivery.

Miss Brown announces a Secret Santa program, but it is cancelled after Dominican parents complain about secret notes.

Anita spots Papi in conversation with the large, tattooed resistance contact called Wimpy inside his store.

The American school announces it will not reopen until the end of January due to JFK's inauguration.

Oscar tells Anita and Sam horrifying stories about how El Jefe tortures and disposes of his enemies.

Lucinda and Susie plan a quinceañera party at the compound, and workers spend two weeks decorating the grounds.

Mami sends Anita running to the casita to warn Papi and Toni that SIM agents have arrived at the party.

Chucha plants bloody sheets in Lorena's room, frightening the suspected spy into leaving the household permanently.

Anita watches El Jefe march in his daily parade from Oscar's window and admits she is scared.

Mami is discovered typing a document in Spanish that resembles the Declaration of Independence.

While hiding at the Mancini house, Anita and Mami begin receiving smuggled letters from Mundin.

Mundin arrives at the Mancini house in disguise to say goodbye before escaping by boat.

Anita enrolls in a Catholic school in New York, where Sister Mary Joseph encourages her to write about her experience.

From the very beginning, ominous signs surround Anita's family, including a black butterfly at the dinner table and whispered warnings about SIM's listening devices hidden throughout the house. At school, seemingly ordinary moments like the cancelled Secret Santa program reveal the reach of Trujillo's paranoia into everyday life. As the family's involvement in the resistance deepens, Anita catches glimpses of coded conversations and secret preparations, including her father meeting the resistance contact Wimpy. The family uses Chucha's power over superstition to drive out their suspected spy of a maid, while a quinceañera planned for joy becomes the scene of a tense warning mission. During the long months in hiding, smuggled letters from Mundin and Mami's secret typing show how many people are quietly working behind the scenes. Even in New York, the fight continues as Anita begins writing her story under the guidance of Sister Mary Joseph.

The clues, schemes, and sacrifices running beneath the main story.

Anita realizes all of her extended family has fled to America, leaving only her immediate family at the compound.

Anita asks for a diary as her only Christmas gift, wishing privately for her whole family to be together.

Oscar joins Anita and Sam at Toni's casita; Chucha stops them and Toni's face appears at the window.

After Mami's warning, Anita returns to her room and erases every single page she has written in her diary.

Anita gets her first period the night before Lucinda's departure, marking her shift into womanhood.

The American school announces it is permanently closing, and Anita learns the Washburn family is also leaving.

Oscar kisses Anita on the cheek while they watch El Jefe pass by in his daily parade.

Mundin insists on joining Papi and the other men as they drive off into the night to search for Pupo.

In hiding, Anita learns that El Jefe has been assassinated but that his son is now seeking violent revenge.

Anita learns that El Jefe's body was discovered in the trunk of Papi's car, the evidence Pupo was supposed to see.

SIM sends men to search the Mancini house for hidden people, but they find nothing suspicious.

Oscar secretly leaves a queen of hearts card as a message for Anita, then later throws pebbles at her window.

Mami reveals to Anita that she herself helped found the current version of The Butterflies resistance group.

Anita's plane lands in New York, where she reunites with Lucinda, Mundin, Carla, and the Garcia family.

A letter from Oscar tells Anita that the Dominican Republic will soon hold its first free elections.

Anita's coming-of-age is built on a series of quiet but devastating realizations, beginning when she understands she is the last of her family remaining in the Dominican Republic. Small choices, like asking for a diary as her only Christmas gift, give way to larger turning points, such as erasing everything she has written once the dangers of the written word become clear. Getting her first period the night before Lucinda leaves marks a shift into a womanhood shadowed by fear, while Oscar's unexpected kiss signals her changing feelings. The revolution's failure hinges on a single devastating revelation: Pupo never came to confirm Trujillo's death, and the dictator's body lay undiscovered in the trunk of Papi's own car. In hiding, Anita learns that Mami herself co-founded The Butterflies, and Oscar's secret messages remind her she is not forgotten. A letter from Oscar about coming free elections finally allows Anita to understand the meaning of her family's sacrifice.