Aristotle Mendoza is a bit of a loner--fifteen years old and no friends. When Dante Quintana offers to teach him to swim one summer, an unbreakable bond of friendship is made on the spot. The two boys spend the summer playing in the streets, making up games to trash their tennis shoes, and rescuing injured birds. Their bonds of friendship are tested by love, heartache, separation, and pain, but through it all, they manage to stay friends. A shift in their relationship will leave both of them questioning what's right and what you should and shouldn't be ashamed of. Saenz's writing moves the story along at a leisurely summer pace that despite its slow introduction moves the boys' relationship along at a believable speed. The ups and downs of being an adolescent boy are portrayed in a very real manner as is the process of self-discovery that each boy undergoes in the progression from friendship to something more. While the book lacks a solid traditional plot, the characters create a beautiful story of what acceptance truly means.