12 year girl traipses around the Guatemalan country side with 'uncle' both begging and working crimes until she decides to move on, only to find that ain't as easy as it seems.

Kidnapped on a crowded Guatamalan bus when she was four, Colibri Mayann for "Hummingbird" has been kept by a man she has been forced to call "uncle'" for the past eight years, when his attempt to sell her for adopotion in the United States failed because she was too old when taken.

"Rosa" as Uncle calls her has only known a life of living on the streets and begging, which is their livelihood. They travel from one small village to another in search of fresh audiences as Uncle portrays himself as blind, deaf or disabled.

Uncle's belief in fortuneteller's prophesy that "Rosa" will bring him great wealth has been his motivation for keeping her all of these years. He is starting to become impatient. He takes her to a Mayan woman who can foresee the future using knowledge of the Mayan calander and reading seeds. "Colibri/Rosa" is very taken with this kind but candid widow, and asks to live with her. She refuses because the girl is completely under the Uncle's spell, and if he returns for her, she will do whatever he asks.

The tale continues as Colibri/Rosa learns more about how evil Uncle is and she takes the risk of folloing her own conscience and learning to do her own thinking.

Layered in this story is the class and language divide between the Indians and the Latinos. ( )

Summary
"Rosa was taken from her parents when she was four. Since then she has travelled with her ""Uncle"" who pretends to be blind and begs to support them. Her mother had called her ""Colibri"", hummingbird, but her Uncle calls her Rosa. Set in modern day Guatemala, it feels historically earlier. Rosa's roots are Mayan and the native people consult Day-Keepers to learn their fortunes. Rosa is supposed to someday find a fortune for her ""Uncle""but he has secrets."