67 pages • 2-hour read
Guadalupe Garcia McCallA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Meet the key characters, with insights into their roles, motivations, and relationships—spoiler-free.
Odilia is the eldest of the five Garza sisters. She feels a deep sense of responsibility for her siblings following her father's departure from the family. While her mother works long hours at a diner to make ends meet, Odilia steps into a maternal and disciplinary role. Though she initially opposes the plan to transport a dead body to Mexico, her protective instincts compel her to join the journey and ensure her sisters' safety.
Eldest daughter of Mamá
Eldest daughter of Ernesto
Older sister of Juanita Garza
Older sister of Delia Garza
Older sister of Velia Garza
Older sister of Pita Garza
Spiritually guided by La Llorona
Spiritually connected to Tonantzin
Juanita is the headstrong fourteen-year-old second-eldest Garza sister. She views herself as the intellectual of the group and actively challenges Odilia's authority at home. It is her community-minded awareness of border politics that initiates the sisters' quest to return a drowned man to his family in Mexico rather than calling the authorities.
Younger sister of Odilia Garza
Older sister of Delia Garza
Older sister of Velia Garza
Older sister of Pita Garza
Daughter of Mamá
Daughter of Ernesto
The mother of the five Garza sisters. Following her husband's departure, she is forced to abandon her role as a housewife and take a demanding job at a local diner to support her family financially. Her long working hours leave her daughters unsupervised and initially resentful, though she makes immense personal sacrifices to provide for them.
Mother of Odilia Garza
Mother of Juanita Garza
Mother of Delia Garza
Mother of Velia Garza
Mother of Pita Garza
Estranged wife of Ernesto
Investigated by Special Agent Gonzales
A legendary figure from Mexican folklore, traditionally known as the Weeping Woman. In this story, she appears as a misunderstood spirit who acts as a supernatural guide for the Garza sisters. She provides Odilia with magical protection and tasks the girls with a mission to heal their fractured family.
Spiritual guide to Odilia Garza
Spiritually connected to Tonantzin
The Aztec mother goddess of fertility and the earth. She is a divine, protective force deeply tied to the Garza sisters' indigenous Mexican heritage. She offers profound spiritual guidance and expects her descendants to honor their cultural lineage while showing solidarity with other women.
Delia is one of the middle Garza sisters and Velia's identical twin. She has a conventionally beautiful appearance and an energetic disposition, though she frequently exhibits vanity. Despite her high-maintenance tendencies, she possesses a fierce energy that surfaces when her family faces danger on the road.
Twin sister of Velia Garza
Younger sister of Odilia Garza
Younger sister of Juanita Garza
Older sister of Pita Garza
Daughter of Mamá
Daughter of Ernesto
Velia is the other middle Garza sister, identical in energy and vanity to her twin Delia. Like her sister, she can be hot-tempered and demanding regarding her personal comfort. She learns to use her strong will to support her siblings when they embark on their cross-border journey.
Twin sister of Delia Garza
Younger sister of Odilia Garza
Younger sister of Juanita Garza
Older sister of Pita Garza
Daughter of Mamá
Daughter of Ernesto
Pita is the youngest of the five Garza sisters. Often coddled and frequently teased by her older siblings, she initially struggles with the physical and emotional demands of their sudden cross-border journey. Her youth makes her vulnerable, but she is forced to mature as the sisters face various challenges on the road.
Younger sister of Odilia Garza
Younger sister of Juanita Garza
Younger sister of Delia Garza
Younger sister of Velia Garza
Daughter of Mamá
Daughter of Ernesto
The father of the Garza sisters. His sudden disappearance from the family home leaves his wife and five daughters struggling emotionally and financially. Finding out the truth about his departure is a strong secondary motivation for the sisters' journey into Mexico.
Estranged husband of Mamá
Father of Odilia Garza
Father of Juanita Garza
Father of Delia Garza
Father of Velia Garza
Father of Pita Garza
Son of Abuelita Remedios
The paternal grandmother of the Garza sisters, living in Mexico. She is a wise, caring matriarch who provides a physical and emotional haven for the girls during their arduous journey. She offers traditional remedies and grounded truths regarding her son's abandonment.
Mother of Ernesto
Grandmother of Odilia Garza
Grandmother of Juanita Garza
Grandmother of Delia Garza
Grandmother of Velia Garza
Grandmother of Pita Garza
A Mexican man whose drowned corpse washes up in the Garza sisters' swimming hole. The discovery of his body, along with a wallet containing money and an address, acts as the catalyst for the sisters' journey across the border to return him to his family.
Deceased husband of Inés
Deceased father of Efraín
Deceased father of Beatriz
Discovered by Odilia Garza
The widow of Gabriel Pérdido. She lives in the small town of El Sacrificio, Mexico, where she has been raising her children in her husband's prolonged absence. Her reaction to her husband's return reveals the deep emotional toll his life choices took on their family.
The adult son of Gabriel Pérdido. The Garza sisters recognize him from an old photograph in Gabriel's wallet, but Efraín harbors intense anger toward his long-absent father.
Son of Gabriel Pérdido
Son of Inés
Brother of Beatriz
The teenage daughter of Gabriel Pérdido. Her transition into womanhood is interrupted by the shocking return of her father's corpse, exposing the family's deep-seated trauma.
Daughter of Gabriel Pérdido
Daughter of Inés
Sister of Efraín
A seemingly enchanting, generous blonde woman who offers the exhausted Garza sisters a luxurious place to rest and an abundance of sweet treats. However, her hospitable facade masks a profound loneliness and deeply manipulative intentions regarding her young guests.
Target of her manipulation Odilia Garza
Known to Teresita
A hunched, bald seer who lives on a hill in Mexico. Despite her unsettling appearance, she is sincerely generous and uses her cards to foresee the dangers that lie ahead for the Garza sisters, offering them crucial advice for survival.
Provides prophecies to Odilia Garza
Familiar with her curses Cecilia
A warlock who uses deceptive disguises to lure unsuspecting travelers into his traps. He seeks to sacrifice the Garza sisters in a dark ritual to break a curse and gain immense magical power.
Target of his dark magic Odilia Garza
A bedraggled twelve-year-old boy who offers to accompany the Garza sisters on the road. He claims to have lost an eye to a monster attack and takes a keen, unsettling interest in the youngest sister, Pita.
Takes a specific interest in Pita Garza
Draws suspicion from Odilia Garza
A kind FBI agent involved in investigating the disappearance of the Garza sisters. He works closely with their mother during the crisis and continues to provide support to the family in the aftermath of their journey.
Investigates her case and supports her Mamá
Helps safely process her return Odilia Garza
A native Mexican woman who acts as a mystical guide. She reinforces the importance of indigenous practices and helps the Garza sisters connect with their ancestral legacy by guiding them toward home.
Follows her spiritual instructions Tonantzin
Mystical guide to Odilia Garza