Redefining 'Home' With Jennifer De Leon

This is the sixth year of the Boston Book Festival's "One City, One Story" program, which brings free literature and conversation to residents.

This year's short story pick is Jennifer De Leon's "Home Movie," translated in both English and Spanish. The story follows a family living in America, with a husband who longs for his home in Guatemala:

It was winter. It was night. In the kitchen, Eduardo showed Linda the video camera he had bought at Sears that afternoon.

"How did you pay for it?" She gripped a spatula and pointed it at the black machine. "I had to buy it, "he said. "So we can make a tape to send with Antonio." His brother, Anotonio, was leaving for Guatemala later that evening.

Linda squinted at the green numbers on the microwave. "In four hours!"

"I know," he said, "that's why we have to film stuff now. So the whole family at home can see what it's like here."

"Stop saying at home. This is our home."

De Leon is also working on a novel, based on the same characters.

Jennifer De Leon, author of "Home Movie" and "Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education," and children's writer-in-residence at the Boston Public Library. She tweets @JDeLeonWriter.

The Boston Globe: Jennifer De Leon Finally Sees Her Work Catch Fire