Thirteen-year-old Jordan Mendoza has a huge crush on his classmate, Sierra, but he's never going to win her affections if he stays a C student and keeps embarrassing himself on the basketball court. And it doesn't help that his best friend, Antonio, likes to tease him about it all a little too much. But when Jordan dives into the waters of a dangerous irrigation canal to save a drowning puppy, he's suddenly got even more on his mind than kissing Sierra and making the starting team.

While helping cook Christmas tamales, a young girl tries on her mother's diamond ring and later realizes the ring is missing. It must be in the tamales--and the only way to find out is to eat all of them! Warmly lit oil paintings bring out the nuances of this tender, funny story