Each Tiny Spark

Clarissa Anderson has been friends with Emilia since kindergarten, and both of their dads were in the army, but Clarissa’s dad died when she was in the first grade. Their military fathers arguably cemented their friendship. Emilia tells Clarissa, “[Y]ou began to open up. Every time you talked about your dad, I became scared but also relieved that my dad was still out there” (294). Clarissa also looks after Emilia and is aware of her discomfort in large crowds or amongst loud noises.

Clarissa can be critical and judgmental—making her less of a friend and more of an antagonist within the span of the novel. On the bus, she screams at Emilia, “[You’re] staring out into space! You’re acting weird” (27). She also criticizes Gus and Emilia’s activism. Clarissa doesn’t embrace activism and change, and she doesn’t want to confront unflattering truths about Merryville.

Clarrisa is Emilia’s foil—she has traits that Emilia lacks. Her opposition to redistricting comes across as extremely rigid. Her constant criticisms of Gus further her problematic attitude, as she continuously seeks to other Gustavo as an outsider. Indeed, by calling her Emi Rose, she obscures her Hispanic heritage and emphasizes her western identity. Asserting her multicultural makeup, Emilia tells her, “My name is Emilia Rosa” (294).

Clarissa is prim and proper, and her parties give her the aura of a mean girl or budding queen bee. She calls Gus “Gustavo,” and she brags about seventh graders attending her parties. Nevertheless, the loss of her dad puts her in an unenviable position, but Cartaya doesn’t dig too deeply into how the death might have impacted her and her views. Thus, she remains a rather static character, representing condescending, prejudiced norms. However, in her continued friendship with Emilia, she demonstrates the potential to learn to be more inclusive.

Gus is Emilia’s sidekick. While Emilia never calls him her “best friend,” the book jacket describes him as such, and as Emilia spends most of her time with Gus, it’s reasonable to label him her best friend. They have a playful relationship and can speak in tongue-in-cheek archaic diction.

Gus is theatrical, and he wants to make movies. He films the pep rally, helps Emilia make the videos for her dad, and his tourism guide is a movie inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. Gus adores del Toro, and horror movies teach him about life. Arguably, Gus is also a budding film critic and scholar.

Gus was born in Alabama. He moved to Merryville two years ago, and his dad, Orestes, works in Abuela’s shop. Gus also has a little sister, Daniela. Gus lives in Park View, and he experiences harsh immigration enforcement when a cop pulls him and his dad over on the way back from Clarissa’s party. The incident leads to one of the story’s central conflicts. Gus stops speaking to Emilia, but they make up and make the video about redistricting. Through Gus, Cartaya, who’s a screenwriter and actor, emphasizes the power of video content.

Abuela is Emilia’s grandma, and she is Toni’s mom. Her family lived in a Cuban factory town for the Hershey Company, and they came to the United States when the factory closed. They eventually settled in the Park View neighborhood of Merryville. Though Abuela doesn’t name specific hardships, her story implies a tough past. She emphasizes Emilia’s European traits and wants her to have a quinceañera because she wants her to have the best life possible. As Abuela puts it, “I just want you to avoid the things I endured. I don’t want you to suffer like I did, mi’ja” (272). Abuela doesn’t change, but she’s a dynamic character. Cartaya doesn’t recount her backstory till the end, when she is explaining her worldview to Emilia.

Abuela’s husband—Toni’s dad—died when he was 13, leaving Abuela in control of the car shop. As an empowered business woman, Abuela has leadership qualities. Emilia describes Abuela as “tough. Strong. Stubborn. Overly protective.” (276).

Toni and Sue are Emilia’s parents. Though Cartaya keeps them apart for most of the story, Emilia describes them as “best friends. They joke around with each other. Snuggle on the sofa and hold hands” (166).

Sue works in tech and spends most of the story in San Francisco, but she’s an attentive parent. She helps Emilia with her homework and remains close with her teachers and counselor due to Emilia’s ADHD. She encourages Emilia’s activism, and, acting as a mentor, provides guidance about injustice and changing the world. Sue is a rather flat character. Though her job situation changes, she remains a thoughtful, helpful mom throughout the story.

Toni is Emilia’s dad, and he’s a dynamic character. When he first returns from war, he’s silent and jumpy. He doesn’t want to be around people and yells at a Delucci’s server. He spends most of his time working on the Shelby Mustang, and Emilia helps him, turning the car into a bonding experience and a symbol of self-improvement. As Emilia and Toni repair the car, Toni changes. He slowly starts to open up about his experiences in the Marines, and then he makes Emilia a video explaining why he didn’t reply to her videos. He’s introspective and loving, and he wants to get help for his implied PTSD.

Cartaya doesn’t use the word PTSD, and he doesn’t specify where Toni was. The lack of specifics arguably reflects Toni’s reluctance to talk about his war experiences. Yet the reader can reasonably guess that Toni was in Afghanistan. Toni mentions being 10,000 feet above sea level, and parts of Afghanistan are that high. He also talks about “trying to communicate with the local military” (116). In Afghanistan, American troops trained and supported the fledgling Afghan army. The book came out in 2019, and the United States, according to Al Jazeera’s “Timeline: US Military Presence in Afghanistan“ (8 Sept. 2019), had around 14,000 troops in Afghanistan around that time.

Don Carlos owns Don Carlos’s Grocery Latino, where Abuela buys the food for her and Emilia’s family. Emilia quips, “I’m not sure what we’d do if Don Carlos’s Grocery Latino didn’t exist. Abuela would probably make us move!” (99). Aside from providing Abuela with the food she needs, he supplies the path toward activism. After interviewing Don Carlos, she learns about how immigrants contributed to the Olympics in Atlanta, which makes her research how United States laws and policies treat immigrants. Don Carlos kickstarts the theme of Embracing Activism and Change. He’s also a relatively savvy social-media user, with over 10,000 followers on an unspecified social media platform.

Mr. Richt is Emilia’s social-studies teacher, and his assignment, a tourism guide, also spurs her activism. Emilia wouldn’t have interviewed Don Carlos if Mr. Richt didn’t come up with the project. Mr. Richt encourages his students to begin Embracing Activism and Change and Confronting Unflattering Truths. Though Cartaya leaves Mr. Richt rather flat, the fact that the principal has had to write up Mr. Richt before suggests he’s something of a renegade.