“Something happened in María’s face—the slightest clenching of her cheek muscles, maybe, or perhaps her eyes narrowing the tiniest bit. Whatever it was, Sierra had seen it happen again and again throughout her life: Ask the wrong question, mention some untouchable topic, just catch her mother at the wrong moment, and it was like some invisible barrier sprang into place.” 

After her grandfather’s strange warning, Sierra tries to ask her mother about the shadowshapers, but María pretends to have no knowledge about the subject. Sierra’s description implies that throughout her life, she has sensed her mother keeping secrets from her. This moment foreshadows that an important part of Sierra’s journey will be learning the truth about her family and their strange heritage. María has kept her in the dark as a child, but as Sierra transitions into adulthood, she will need to learn the truth.

“Back in Bed Stuy, police lights pulsated up and down Putnam Avenue. Ambulances were parked at urgent angles alongside the rows of SUVs and hoopties. Folks from the neighborhood crowded around, gazing down the cordoned-off block to see who had been shot this time.”

In this passage, Older paints a clear picture of Sierra’s neighborhood. Sierra is curious to see so many sirens, but she otherwise doesn’t react much to the sight of emergency responders in her neighborhood. Her lack of concern shows the reader that such an occurrence is a common one within the neighborhood. Sierra has in many ways become desensitized to crime. 

“Papa Acevado’s face could barely be seen now. Sierra looked up at it as she walked to the foot of the Tower. If no one would answer her questions, she would do what she’d always done when people she cared about stonewalled her: She’d lose herself in art.”

Like Sierra, the reader might begin to grow frustrated that no one will answer Sierra’s questions about the shadowshapers. However, Older reminds the reader that Sierra already has many important pieces of the puzzle: Papa Acevado’s fading mural, Sierra’s own mural on