Set between the Barra da Tijuca and the Mexican seaside of Cancún, this touching bildungsroman is a mix of rarely-found honesty and fundamental themes such as religion and fatherhood.

Right before entering his teenage years, Joel feels out of place among his school-mates and the kids of his neighborhood. It’s 1998 and the world seems everyday more threatening. He seeks refuge in a group of young kids from the Evangelical Church, while at the same time he starts having a hard time dealing with his dad, who just came back home after spending four mysterious years in Cancún.
Decades later, after his father’s death, far away from any religious affiliation and about to have a son of his own, Joel decides to reach the Mexican seaside, alone. While trying to follow his father’s steps, what had to be an easy trip turns into a complex situation, that helps us better understand what made Joel who he has become today.
With a clear and straight-forward prose, Miguel Del Castillo gives us the picture of a generation and a class forged into big isolated buildings, tax havens, in schools where violence is a daily issue and in the sparkling plastic feel of fast foods.
One of the most surprising novels of the new generation of Brazilian writers.