Lola struggles with a school assignment to draw a picture of her country of origin, as her own family emigrated from what she calls 'the Island' when she was a baby. She asks her family and neighbourhood acquaintances for their memories and records these in her notebook. She learns of large bats, wonderful fruits, vivid colours, music and dancing, beautiful beaches, terrifying hurricanes, and the heroism of a people who defeated a monster that once terrorised the Island (an reference to the overthrow of a dictator in the author's native Dominican Republic). Through these images Lola discovers a new sense of identity and pride in her heritage. Her character and thought processes are subtly drawn, and find a satisfying match in Leo Espinosa's illustrations and the way images of Island life gradually invade the urban setting until the climactic moment when Lola shares her researches at school, and images spill forth from her notebook in a kaleidoscope of colour.