Maya's Notebook

Neglected by her parents, nineteen-year-old Maya Nidal has grown up in Berkeley with her grandparents. Her grand­mother Nini is a force of nature, a woman whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973. Popo, Maya's grandfa­ther, is a gentle man whose solid, comforting presence helps calm the turbulence of Maya's adolescence.

When Popo dies of cancer, Maya goes completely off the rails, turning to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime in a downward s…