What she heard instead was the sound of breaking glass." (Gratz, Page 13) Cuba has become a corrupted society and because of leaving Cuba being banned, she has lost almost all hope. Isabel's father has been arrested for attempting to escape Cuba, and her neighbors the Castillos are building a secret boat to escape Cuba. When Castro let the country know that they can escape Cuba without being stopped she and her neighbors escaped Luis Castillo and his girlfriend were police officers but and joined them even in the police weren't allowed to escape.

shoulder ached and his chest still seared with every hard, desperate breath, but the only thing that 

mattered now was getting to his mother. His sister. His brother. 

Mahmoud pulled himself up out of the rubble and saw the building across the street in raw 

daylight, like he was standing in midair beside it." this shows that the reader can infer that Mahmoud was barely living but all he could think about was saving and knowing his family was okay. We know that Mahmoud's character is very caring and selfless. This was an indirect characterization the author didn't want to say Mahmoud was selfless he wanted to show the reader he wanted the reader to find out Mahmoud's personality throughout the book.