Hermanos is a story of cultures in conflict. Set in a small town in California, the novel describes the clash of values when two brothers, Alfredo and Mario Alhambra, show up to surf at what a high school classmate considers his surfing grounds. Mario, a freshman newly enrolled at Mission High School, finds himself alone, without the protection of his older brother, Alfredo, and at the brutality of ugly discrimination. Chris Battleson, longtime surfer, realizes that he is caught in the middle of this clash and, ultimately, finds himself aligned with Alfredo in the aftermath of Mario’s conflict. Woven into the story are Chris’ own problems as he and his girlfriend, Reeni, find that they must face their parents with the fact of their own imminent parenthood. While the novel searches for answers to the age-old problems of arrogance and discrimination, it also shines a quiet light on solutions which contain tolerance and love.