Catalina spends the summer before her senior year as an unpaid intern at a literary magazine, aware she cannot work legally after graduation.

Catalina meets Nathaniel Wheeler outside the Peabody Museum, and he ties her shoe after she impulsively hacked the hem off her dress.

Catalina watches the DREAM Act get filibustered in the Senate on mute during class, confirming her belief it will never pass.

Nathaniel takes Catalina to lunch with his father Byron Wheeler, a famous film director who jokes about Ecuadorian women trying to marry him off.

While home for Thanksgiving, Catalina learns her uncle Patricio has died in Ecuador and her undocumented family cannot return for the funeral.

The DREAM Act fails to pass yet again, and Catalina vomits when she hears the news.

Catalina finds a deportation notice addressed to her grandfather in the household mail and confronts him about it.

Catalina meets pro bono lawyer Josh in a church basement, who tells her the case isn't promising but advises generating public attention.

Catalina asks Byron Wheeler for help with her grandfather's deportation case, and Byron proposes making a short documentary about her final Harvard semester.

Catalina and Nathaniel travel to Vermont for a ski weekend and have sex as soon as they arrive at the lodge.

Nathaniel complains about a woman buying expensive steaks with food stamps, and a furious Catalina calls him a cliché and throws herself out of the moving car.

Byron and his cameraman film Catalina in her dorm room; she feels trapped in her body and cries throughout the entire session.

Catalina's grandfather disappears, and she finds a box containing his farewell letter, his military school gold chain, and a khipu stolen from the exhibition.

Catalina receives the first cut of the documentary, is satisfied she looks beautiful, and emails Byron to say she no longer wants to proceed.

After graduation, Catalina and Nathaniel split amicably, she moves back in with her grandmother, and Byron helps her get a cash tutoring job.

Catalina Ituralde spends the summer before her senior year as an undocumented unpaid intern at a literary magazine, dreaming of a writing career she cannot legally pursue after graduation. Back at Harvard, she meets Nathaniel Wheeler and flirts with the possibility of romance while watching Congress repeatedly kill the DREAM Act. After her uncle's death in Ecuador, her family unravels, and the crisis deepens when Catalina discovers a deportation order in the mail for her grandfather. She reaches out to film director Byron Wheeler, and the two agree to make a documentary about her final weeks at Harvard as a strategy to generate public sympathy for her grandfather's case. Their relationship with the Wheeler men reaches a breaking point when Nathaniel reveals his class blindness, and Catalina's own emotional collapse peaks during the documentary's filming. After her grandfather quietly leaves the country on his own terms, Catalina cancels the film, graduates, and begins rebuilding her life alongside her grandmother.

The headline events of Catalina's final year at Harvard.

As a baby in Ecuador, Catalina survived a car accident that killed both her parents and was raised by her aunt and uncle until age five.

Catalina begins dating Camilo, the only Hispanic intern at the literary magazine, after he gives her a mixed CD at work.

By the end of summer, Catalina's relationship with Camilo stalls and she feels crestfallen, having experienced no awakening or excitement.

Catalina receives an email announcing she has won the William Yandell Elliott writing prize and is invited to a celebratory reception.

During freshman year, Catalina sends her friend Kyle Johnson a late-night email with the subject line 'A Big Thing' to reveal her undocumented status.

Catalina auditions for The Harvard Advocate and argues for publishing a story about a garden snake eating a puppy, failing to advance to the next round.

After Uncle Patricio's death, Catalina's grandfather begins drinking heavily, and Fernanda begs Catalina to come home on weekends to speak with him.

Delphine intervenes after noticing Catalina's collapse and insists she pull herself together to complete her finals before the semester ends.

At the Signet holiday party, a drunk Catalina kisses Nathaniel until she tastes blood; he calls her a silly little girl and leaves.

During winter break, Catalina has phone sex with strangers from Craigslist while her grandparents attend their Jehovah's Witness meetings.

Former boss Jim Young invites Catalina to coffee and offers her a position at the magazine after graduation; she deflects, vague about her plans.

Catalina is reassigned to the Peabody's Vault for spring semester and begins working with Brazilian conservator Isabella on the khipu exhibition.

At a meeting with travel agent Don Luis, Catalina's grandfather announces he intends to be buried in Ecuador, leaving Catalina hurt and surprised.

Catalina invites her grandparents to the Peabody's khipu exhibition opening, knowing her grandfather might not be present for her graduation.

After Francisco's departure, Fernanda destroys his belongings in a rage and then throws herself into finding work and pursuing new hobbies with vigor.

From the car accident that claimed Catalina's parents in Ecuador to her brief summer romance with a fellow intern, the secondary events of the novel fill in the texture of her year. At Harvard, she wins a writing prize, confides her immigration status to her first close friend Kyle Johnson, and fails to land a spot on the literary magazine she auditions for. Her grandfather's grief after her uncle's death spirals into heavy drinking, and it is Delphine who ultimately forces Catalina to finish her finals when she falls apart at the end of semester. Over winter break, Catalina copes with an impossible job offer and escalating family tension through avoidance and strange behavior while her grandfather's situation grows more desperate. In the spring semester, she prepares for the khipu exhibition while falling quietly apart, and invites her grandparents to campus knowing it may be their last visit before a deportation. After her grandfather's departure, Fernanda channels her grief and long-suppressed ambition into a vigorous new chapter as a single woman.

The secondary moments that fill in the texture of Catalina's story.

Catalina is sent from Ecuador to live with her undocumented grandparents in Queens at age five on a tourist visa that later expires.

Catalina's grandfather has his Jehovah's Witness privileges revoked because his undocumented status makes him legally considered a fugitive.

During junior year, Kyle nominates Catalina for Harvard's secret Signet arts and letters society, telling her it is because she is a good writer.

Catalina attends a Dreamers vigil at City Hall with Delphine but feels only dread at the other protesters' hopefulness, believing the cause is lost.

Nathaniel introduces Catalina to his thesis advisor Dr. Murphy at the prize reception; Catalina feels dread when he announces she is from Ecuador.

Catalina tells Nathaniel not to fall in love with her; he replies that he refuses to be a trope in someone else's story.

Republicans sweep the midterm elections in November, deepening Catalina's anxiety about the political climate and the future of immigration reform.

Catalina takes too much NyQuil and Benadryl trying to sleep, and her grandparents find her vomiting; they finally notice and respond to her deep sadness.

Catalina finds ICE court notices hidden in her grandfather's bedside drawer and calls him; he breaks down and admits to an immigration raid at his job site.

Byron sends Catalina a camcorder and asks her to record herself naturally; she films an invented family story and lip-syncs to Amy Winehouse.

Delphine warns Catalina that Byron may be exploiting her story for his own reputation and worries she is changing herself for the Wheeler men.

Isabella allows Catalina to touch a funerary khipu in the Vault; holding it, Catalina feels that doing so is wrong.

Professor Sandoval demands a meeting with Catalina, gives her linden flower tea for stress, and offers her a therapist's phone number.

Fernanda reads Francisco's farewell letter and goes absolutely ballistic, destroying every trace of her husband she can find in the apartment.

Catalina successfully submits her thesis and resolves to become the valedictorian of all the abandoned girls in the world.

The turning points of Catalina's story begin with her arrival in the United States as a five-year-old on an expiring visa and her grandfather's quiet humiliation when the Jehovah's Witnesses revoke his standing because his immigration status makes him a legal fugitive. At Harvard, Catalina is drawn into a secret society through Kyle's nomination, attends a Dreamers vigil that fills her with dread rather than hope, and spars with Nathaniel over who gets to control whose story. As the fall semester darkens with failed legislation and a Republican midterm sweep, Catalina's emotional state collapses in private, becoming visible only to her grandparents when they find her vomiting after an overdose of sleep medication. The discovery of the ICE court notices hidden in her grandfather's bedside drawer is the shock that snaps her out of paralysis, and the spring semester becomes a series of confrontations over who controls her narrative. Byron's camera, the khipus in the Vault, and Professor Sandoval's concern each force Catalina to reckon with the question of her own story. By the end, her grandfather reclaims his fate by leaving on his own terms, Fernanda erupts in grief before rebuilding, and Catalina submits her thesis and commits to becoming the most famous abandoned girl in the world.

The key decisions, discoveries, and emotional shifts that define Catalina's journey.