1st BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

Jordi Sierra I Fabra (1947−), Spanish writer, rock historian, and author of children's literature.

He was born in Barcelona and studied Building Engineering, a profession he began to practice during the day while writing in the
night and was part of the Gran Musical program of Radio Madrid. Starting in 1970, he began to direct the
Disco Express seminar. In 1972, he published History of Pop Music, and in 1982 the dictionary of six.
volumes History of rock music, which first appeared in installments and has been published in many
countries; he has also written monographs on The Beatles, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Bob
Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Miguel Ríos and a long etcetera. Regular collaborator
of almost all pop and rock music magazines, since the late 1970s their dedication to music has
has reduced to being an advisor for the magazine Súper Pop, which does not mean that he has stopped writing about this
gender, rather the opposite.

Her dedication to children's literature began steadily, as her first book, The Hunter (1981), received
the Gran Angular prize, and the second, In a place called Earth (1983), won the same again
award.

With more than a hundred published works, both in Spanish and Catalan, Sierra i Fabra is characterized
for a writing full of fantasy in a real, concrete, and even very harsh world, but in which there is always
place for hope. Other books of his are: The Last Summer (1987), The Amazing Expedition (1988), The
nave fantástica(1989),La balada del siglo XXI(1989),Kaopí(1990),Nunca seremos estrellas del rock
(1994) yEl niño que vivía en las estrellas(1996).

2nd SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT

Beatriz was with her friend Ivana at the club and there she saw Joma, she fell in love with him at first sight.
He invented an excuse to start a conversation, and that's how they met. He was different from the other guys.
After a conversation, they arranged to meet the next day. They met several times and began to get to know each other, and she
she gave him her phone number. It had already been two days since she heard from him, and all she was hoping for was to hear the
phone, already desperate she was preparing to leave the house when the phone rang, she ran to it and they returned
to stay. They met at the nightclub, and there Joma confessed that he had fallen in love with her, and they melted into
a big kiss.

Everything seemed so nice to him, but that happiness lasted until he reached his front door. Fortunato, drunk, had
hit his mother again. Joma's defenseless mother could only tell Joma no.
he will catch Fortunato.

The days continued to pass, and after the Easter holidays, they met again. Joma welcomed her.
with a rose in hand. But things had changed.

Joma realized that Beatriz had left her gang to go with him and told him so.

When Ivana's birthday arrived, they celebrated together, despite not separating, amidst greetings and commotion.
Beatriz disappeared. A boy started talking to Joma, and he felt offended, hit him, and left. Beatriz
He tried to stop him but he responded curtly.

Days passed and once they were regretful, he went to look for her at the school gate where they could clarify things.
everything.

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Joma told him that he had to leave and that they needed to take some time, she insisted that everything should continue.
how was it.

Beatriz asked her mother if she could stay in the capital during the summer using her studies as an excuse.
despite insisting a lot, her mother did not allow her.

The next day when they were on the street kissing, Lucía, Joma's ex-girlfriend, saw them and started to insult them.
Joma. But not content with that, she sent a letter to Beatriz's father saying that his daughter had a boyfriend from
low society. His father was so angry that he didn't let him leave the house, not even to go to class, for two days.

Meanwhile, Joma was having a really hard time; he had just lost his mother because of Fortunato and
To make matters worse, Beatriz was not answering his calls. When he returned home after the wake and the burial of
his mother found Fortunato half drunk in the living room of their house, Fortunato unaware of what
he asked the past: 'Where is your mother?', Joma, filled with rage, lunged at him and began to
punching with all his might until he hit the corner of the table and passed out.
Joma thought he had killed him and fled. He arrived at Beatriz's house and told her what had happened, Beatriz did
the same. He told her that the only thing he could do was flee, and she told him that she would go with him. So that same night
They took all the money they found in Beatriz's house, a tent, and fled.

They were missing for two weeks until Joma, desperate from not finding work and being
Without money, he stole from a store. The guards apprehended him and Beatriz's father appeared.

Desperate Beatriz begged her father to pay for a good lawyer for Joma. Carlos Salvatierra spoke with
Joma made a deal with him, he would get him out of trouble in exchange for leaving Beatriz; he tells him that his relationship such
It would work after a few years, but not at that moment. Joma agrees.

Carlos Salvatierra doesn't tell his daughter anything about his conversation with Joma and they go back home.

After five years of not knowing anything about him, thinking he would be in jail, he receives a letter from Joma; in it he
He says that he is in Madrid, that Beatriz's father actually helps her and that she already has a job and something.
what to offer him and if he still loves him to call him.

The way to the phone felt like the road to Paradise.

3rd CHARACTERS

Main characters:

Beatriz: She is the main character along with Joma. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the story. She is
explosive, with beautiful eyes, generously open, gifted for communication, face
clean, triangular, dark hair in which the lips, nose, and cheekbones stand out. His face is
harmonic, flexible body, slender, long legs and brief waist.

His family is in a high social situation; he has a sister Sonia and a brother Andrés and lives with
his parents Carlos Salvatierra and Ana del Campo.

Joma: José María is the other protagonist of the novel. He is tall, with long black hair and eyes.
piercing eyes, straight nose, square jaw, and full lips.

His life is a hell, as his father is in prison.

Other characters:

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 •Ivana: She is Beatriz's best friend. She is a very popular girl, she goes to school with Beatriz and to the
at first, he does not accept Joma.
Lorenzo, Paco, Chema, Luis, Néstor, Eva, Elvira, Violeta, and Sara: They are Beatriz's friends. Eva
she is unbearable, Elvira is pretentious and Violeta is annoying.
Hna. Norberta: She is the mathematics teacher.
Carlota: She is a classmate of Beatriz. She is unbearable.
Lucrecia: She is the maid of Beatriz's family. She is a good person.
She is Beatriz's sister, she is 23 years old; she is foolish, naïve, unhappy; born to be a wife and
mother.
Ricardo: He is Sonia's boyfriend; a dandy.
Andrés: Beatriz's other brother, he is 25 years old; he is smart, a great idol for her, he is special.
the person I care about the most in the world, since they left for Columbia in the USA for their
Master misses him a lot.
Carlos Salvatierra: He is Beatriz's father, a very strict person who does anything for
the well-being of her daughter.

Ana del Campo: Beatriz's mother; a patient woman who also cares a lot about her
daughter.
Marisol and Leticia: Beatriz's classmates in school, who are models.
Brígida Martín: She does not belong to the group, but she can be considered a friend. She is quite
crazy and organizes some very careful numbers. Her father is a big banker.
Rubén: A friend of Beatriz who is in love with her. He is a very shy boy.
Joma's mother: A very unhappy woman, whose husband is in jail and lives with an alcoholic who
the only thing she does is hit him; she is a patient, simple woman and a good mother, to whom her own
Fear of facing his partner's problem destroys him.
Father of Joma: Marcelino Molinaes Bajo, slender, with an open face, sad eyes, and a deep voice.
deep. He doesn't even look like a prisoner but rather like a confused and lost man waiting for someone.
It indicates the exit. There is an axis of bitterness and hesitation in it, like a child trapped in a lie.
Fortunato: He is the emotional partner of Joma's mother. An alcoholic man with an ending.
fateful, as it kills Joma's mother under the effects of alcohol and he doesn't even realize it.
Pepe: The best friend of Joma who is now in the war.
Florencio Esparza: Joma has breakfast with him every morning. He is a talkative, volcanic type, one of those who
They sentence at every moment, but he is also friendly, a good work companion, open and
cordial.
Vicente Santolaria: Friend of Joma; he had been a member of the Communist Party of Spain.
Workers' Commissions, union delegate and had written in a newspaper.
Pilar: She was with Vicente Santolaria for 14 years; strong at heart, she never complains about anything and never gives in.
bad face.
Maria: Second cousin of her mother, around 60 years old.
Woman: About 40 years old; wearing mid-calf rubber boots and holding a worn hoe.
and dirty. Joma goes to her in search of work.
Civil Guard: With a round and fleshy face, sad eyes, a huge nose, a thick mustache, and lips
reddish. His accent was unequivocally Andalusian.

4th SENTENCES THAT I LIKE THE MOST

He knew the strange feeling that awaited him upstairs, when he opened the door to the apartment and did not see her as
always.

I like this sentence because it expresses the sorrows and memories that Joma feels once his...
mother.

Are the birds free from the chains of the sky?

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At the end of the book, this phrase from a poem appears and I like how it relates to the book.

3.- Love remains love, and the good and the bad of it endure with the eternity of feelings.

A red cloud unfolded before his eyes and blinded him.

I really like this sentence because it expresses the anger Joma feels over his mother's death.

Beatriz turned her head upon feeling a tingling in her nape; the tingling was due to the gaze of a boy,
fixate on her.

I like it because it's the first time they meet.

Joma thought she was the prettiest and most pleasant girl he had ever seen or known.

In this sentence, I find it interesting because from the beginning you already know how he feels.

7. On the other side of the street, she was waiting for him with a red rose in her hand.

I like this sentence because it's when they reconcile.

He still had his head up when he saw him.

I like it because I imagine how Beatriz felt at that moment and it seems exciting to me.

It was as if everything froze for him.

I like it for the same reason as the previous one.

He started running, dodging children and mothers, and did not stop until his body met Joma's.

I like this sentence because it sounds like a movie.

11.−It was then that he heard Joma crying, breaking the tension.

I like how Joma trusts her and in this phrase, he shows it by expressing his feelings and his
armor of a strong man.

12.−I'm going with you.

I thought it was a wise decision for Beatriz to go with him, because it is a good way to show him
that he loves her.

I already have something to offer you, even though the essence of our bond is the same as it was back then: love

This phrase seems very romantic to me and not many people say those things.

14.−Doing what I did was the hardest thing in the world, but also the only thing in those circumstances.
could save us, especially me.

I really like this sentence, especially for what Joma is capable of doing out of love.

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15. They say that the first love is the strongest, the most intense and unforgettable; they are right darling, in my case you...
I will love eternally.

I like this sentence because of how romantic it is and because it has a lot of truth in it.

5th SPACE AND TIME

The novel takes place mainly in the streets of Madrid. The locations that appear are: Carabanchel, Gran
Via, the Rex cinema, Beatriz's school, her house, Joma's house, the prison, the nightclub, Ivana's house,...

There are also places outside the capital which are: Navacerrada, Laredo, the Basque Country, the gas station, the
Segovia station, Valladolid, the town where they look for work,...

Time is divided into two parts; the first lasts approximately the duration of the course; the
the second part is the five years they remain separated.

6th PERSONAL OPINION

This realistic novel about first love did not seem to me a true reflection of the situations in which
we can meet in real life. It is a very romantic novel, fantastic but romantic, it is the
Typical novel that we adolescent girls like, with this plot a soap opera could have been created.
Venezuelan of five hundred episodes, and all of this is condensed into less than two hundred pages. It has all
the incentives of romantic novels, family problems, parents who do not approve of partners, getaway, and
separation and a happy ending.

It's a novel that I've liked, but in my opinion, it has nothing to do with romantic relationships between
Real people, it's totally fantastic, a relationship like the one in the book is the exception. Normally, there aren't that many.
problems.

I really like the personality of the main characters because they are very honest as well as good.
people with a big heart.

In conclusion, I will say that despite how fantastic the novel is, I liked it, it is one of those books that
As soon as you start it, you can't stop until you finish it, it hooks you.

Jordi Sierra i Fabra