The Other Side of the Ocean — Places

Framingham

Massachusetts

• Ch 1Where the Francos have lived since arriving. Ana chose the cold to give the family thicker skin.

Joseph Ferguson High School

Massachusetts

Also known as Joseph, Joseph Ferguson

• Ch 1A technical high school. Concrete façade with silver letters; the mascot is a unicorn in a triangle. Students alternate shop week and academic week.
• Ch 2The visual arts shop smells of coffee from the computer lab next door.
• Ch 27Matt, James and the Fortress graduate here in June 2014.
• Ch 27Every shop has its own vending machine. In the auditorium, graduates sit on the first floor and guests on the upper level.

The visual arts shop

Massachusetts

Also known as shop, the computer lab

• Ch 2Walls covered in art; drafting tables splattered with paint. Each student’s desk is recognizable by its scribbles.
• Ch 22Neb’s chair sits empty after he leaves; Matt draws it.
• Ch 27A new student took Neb’s chair junior year.
• Ch 2A vast space hung with everything from watercolors to conté pieces, like an art gallery. On still-life days the drafting tables form a circle.
• Ch 4Has a vending machine by the door and a bathroom in the back.
• Ch 18The adjoining computer lab is all glass, so the class can see into it from the shop.
• Ch 22A supply shelf stands at the back. Neb’s chair has metal legs covered in paint blotches and a green seat.

The Forbidden Fortress table

Massachusetts

Also known as the cafeteria table

• Ch 1The group’s cafeteria table since freshman year: near the vending machines, facing the football field. Nobody else had ever joined until James.
• Ch 1Sits by a floor-to-ceiling window, close to the vending machines and food aisle but apart from the other tables.

Framingham High

Massachusetts

• Ch 2James’s old school.
• Ch 17Where Brian beat James in the gym locker room.

Woodrow Wilson Elementary

Massachusetts

• Ch 1Where the Forbidden Fortress was founded.

The Crusty Pie

Massachusetts

Also known as Crusty

• Ch 6The group’s café, a thirty-minute walk from Matt’s. A table by the window next to a bookshelf redecorated each season.
• Ch 13Where Matt comes out to his friends.
• Ch 16Matt is hired here in January 2012. Mondays are flatbread night.
• Ch 19Neb and Brian’s Bible study takes place here.
• Ch 25Matt tells the Fortress he is leaving.
• Ch 11A neon “open” sign casts a bluish light inside, and a fan spins on the ceiling.
• Ch 16A door at the far left behind the counter leads to Mr. Oliver’s office, with a kitchenette break room to the right and a staff bathroom in back.
• Ch 17Staff aprons bear an embroidered logo: a slice of pie with googly eyes and a smile.
• Ch 17Has a shelf of mugs and coffee bags for sale.
• Ch 20About a fifteen-minute drive from the Alberte house.
• Ch 25Mugs line the shelves, roasted coffee bags are for sale, and plants hang from the ceiling. Serves muffins, cappuccinos and PB&Js.

Dos Slices

Massachusetts

Also known as Dos Slices Pizza

• Ch 5On Route 9. Brick walls with pictures of New York. Matt and James’s first lunch; James pays.
• Ch 5White bold letters on the façade with a pizza-shaped neon sign beside them. A bench waiting area by the entrance; round tables in back.

Sabor Mineiro

Massachusetts

• Ch 11The expensive Brazilian buffet on Route 9 where Claudio announces the June departure.
• Ch 11A buffet station, baskets of pão de queijo at the tables, and TVs around the room, some on Brazilian channels and one on CNN.

The park on Arlington and Gordon

Massachusetts

Also known as the park, the swings

• Ch 9Rusty swings and green slides, twenty minutes’ walk from Matt’s. Where James’s parents took him as a child, and where Matt comes out to him.
• Ch 10Someone from Neb’s church saw them swinging there.
• Ch 9A crisscross metal fence separates it from the sidewalk; the swings have rubber seats and creaking chains, and benches sit under a tree.

The Alberte house

Massachusetts

Also known as James’s house

• Ch 12On the north side, on manicured hills. Columns, stone bricks, Jack Skellington and Sally among Christmas trees with cobwebs.
• Ch 12A Jesus-carrying-the-cross sculpture next to the PS3.
• Ch 24Dinner with Daniel and Sophia ends with James walking out.
• Ch 12A brown front door between the columns, and windows as tall as Matt.
• Ch 12Inside: dark wood floors, a crystal chandelier, spotless rooms in brown and white, a guest bathroom by the entrance.
• Ch 12The living room has a large LED TV, a home theater and an L-shaped reclining leather couch.
• Ch 19The living-room couch reclines enough to serve as a bed; James’s shower has a Bluetooth speaker.
• Ch 24Front steps lead to the door and a front porch; inside, Daniel’s coat hangs by the door and a Bible sits on a table by the stairs.
• Ch 24Has a living room with a couch and a long dining table; the street outside has dim lampposts.

The lake in the woods

Massachusetts

Also known as the fallen tree

• Ch 24A few minutes’ walk from James’s house through the trees. A fallen tree reaches into the water; James sat there before dawn and after dark during the Brian months.
• Ch 24Reached by a path that disappears into the trees; the moon reflects on the water and town lights glow in the distance.
• Ch 24The fallen tree is long, its tip under the water and its branches outstretched like begging hands.

The Franco house

Massachusetts

Also known as Matt’s house

• Ch 1The school bus stops right in front for Laila. Matt’s second-floor window looks over the driveway.
• Ch 14Hosts Christmas Eve 2011.
• Ch 3The stairs creak; the kitchen has an iPod dock in the corner. Matt’s computer screensaver casts blue and green light around his room.
• Ch 14Laila’s room is next to Matt’s; the upstairs bathroom faces his bedroom. The front door has glass, and the Christmas tree stands by the living room couch.
• Ch 20The living room has two facing couches; Matt’s bedroom has a computer desk, a closet and a window beside which Pedro leans.

Dunkin’

Massachusetts

Also known as Dunkin’ Donuts

• Ch 7The group’s drive-through stop on the way to the movies; five minutes from the theater.
• Ch 21Matt and James’s morning coffee run.

Shopper’s World

Massachusetts

• Ch 14On Route 9. Matt measures the strength of their friendship against its foundations.

Route 9

Massachusetts

Also known as Route Nine

• Ch 4,11The road with Dos Slices, Sabor Mineiro and Shopper’s World.

Franklin Street

Massachusetts

• Ch 5Has the Latino store where Brazilian newspapers are sold.

Nogueira’s Marble and Granite

Massachusetts

• Ch 3Where Claudio has carried slabs since arriving.

Mass Scientific

Massachusetts

• Ch 3Where Ana was catering manager until her Social Security number was verified.

Natick

Massachusetts

• Ch 16Where Gabriella moved, and where Claudio lives with a coworker after Christmas.

Hopkinton Lake

Massachusetts

Also known as Hopkinton Park, Wild Turkey camping grounds, Parkers Island

• Ch 26Twenty minutes from home. Sign: “Make Memories. Inspire Dreams.” The cabin sits near the Wild Turkey camping grounds.
• Ch 26Parkers Island once held a couple’s cabin in the 1800s. Site of the canoe fight and the DACA news.
• Ch 26A wide lake ringed by tall pine trees and visible from the road; entry costs five dollars at the gate.
• Ch 26A gravel road circles the lake to a launch dock for canoes; small islands are scattered across the water, which is very cold.
• Ch 26Most visitors swim and barbecue on the far side of the lake.

Art Academy in Boston

Massachusetts

Also known as the Art Academy

• Ch 1Diana overhears classmates praising its graphic design program.
• Ch 18Offers Matt a full scholarship. The brochure shows a moss-covered building with a huge staircase.
• Ch 18The building on the brochure cover looks like a castle; Matt calls it the most prestigious art school in the state.

Salem

Massachusetts

• Ch 12Diana suggests going there for Halloween.

Granary Burying Ground

Massachusetts

• Ch 7In Boston. Fa read a book about it; Diana says it is one of the most haunted places in America.

The Hopkinton cabin

Massachusetts

Also known as the cabin

• Ch 26A secluded cabin among trees near the Wild Turkey camping grounds, a short walk from the lake; a table and grill stand by the entrance.
• Ch 26A little wooden sign on the door reads “Enjoy That Cabin Life”; the door opens with a code.
• Ch 26Creaky floors, floor-to-ceiling windows facing the woods, a stone fireplace and a chandelier of warped elk horns.
• Ch 26Bedrooms upstairs, a kitchen with a microwave, and a single bathroom.

The movie theater

Massachusetts

Also known as the theater

• Ch 7About five minutes’ drive from Dunkin’; no outside drinks allowed. The group sits in the last row. Fa calls it a refrigerator.

The Joseph library

Massachusetts

Also known as the library

• Ch 10Smells of books and coffee. Big windows look out over the football field and the tree line.
• Ch 10Three long wooden tables line the far back wall; Mrs. Crass sits at her desk by the door.

Fogo Dourado

Brazil

Also known as FG

• Ch 1The Francos’ town in Goiás, “our own version of Texas.” Where Magazine Franco failed.
• Ch 9Where Claudio’s drinking turned violent.
• Ch 11A small town where gossip about the debt spread in two days.
• Ch 14Laila shortens it to FG.

Goiás

Brazil

• Ch 4Matt’s home state, “our own version of Texas.”

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

Also known as Rio

• Ch 4Fa’s birthplace.
• Ch 25Where Matt’s aunt lives; the family would have stayed with her.

São Paulo

Brazil

• Ch 1Diana’s birthplace.
• Ch 3Ana wishes she could move the family to a big city like it.

Minas Gerais

Brazil

• Ch 4Pedro’s home state.

Bogotá

Wider world

• Ch 16Where Gabriella goes to study medicine.

The Texas therapy center

Wider world

• Ch 21Where Neb is sent “to set my mind straight.”
• Ch 22Mr. H has a contact inside who carries letters.

New York City

Wider world

Also known as NYC

• Ch 27Where Matt has a new scholarship and the group plans to be neighbors.