Netfali Reyes is a shy Chilean boy who loves words, writing and daydreaming. To his father this is unaccepatble and his father works to try and have him get his head out of the clouds and into the real world. Though his father disapproves he had allies in his uncle and stepmother. His uncle is a big supporter of the local Mapuche indians, who owned the land first but are being driven out by townspeople like his father. This influences Netfali and his writing and after years of suffering his father disappointment and losing everything he'd ever written he goes off to the university and writes about the plight of the Mapuche indians. However he changes his name to Pablo Neruda so that his father doesn't know it's him writing the articles. I didn't realize it until the end in the author's notes, but this was a fictional biography based on a true story of a Nobel winning poet Pablo Neruda. The writing was beautiful, but combined with Peter Sis and his drawings between chapters, which are meant to capture the imagination of both the reader and Netfali adds to the feeling that the book leaves with you.
