Caramelo is a 2002 epic novel spanning a hundred years of Mexican history by American author Sandra Cisneros.

The Grandparents live in Mexico City with the Reyes brothers' younger sister, Norma, who Lala calls "Aunty Light-Skin" and her daughter, Antonieta Araceli.

During their stay, a birthday party is thrown for Lala's father, Inocencio, where the ceiling of the dining room collapses.

They all decide to go to Acapulco, including Candelaria, who creates a palm leaf rose for Lala, a gift which falls into the ocean during a boat ride.

Lala witnesses many things from a child's point of view, including seeing her grandmother, Soledad, tell Zoila, her mother, something very disturbing, though it isn’t clear what.

On the drive home, when Lala mentions how Candelaria’s flower was lost, her mother laughs and accuses Inocencio of lying to her about a secret relationship.

Zoila proceeds to physically and verbally attack him, eventually running into the heart of the plaza to have a heated exchange in public.

The Mexican Revolution begins shortly after and during the Ten Tragic Days in 1913, Narciso has three of his ribs surgically removed after suffering a collapsed lung caused by fear when he was nearly killed by two soldiers on his way home.

There, he falls in love with a young Josephine Baker, an African American, but when he informs his father of his plans to marry her, the shock of the news triggers a cerebral embolism which kills him.

Narciso returns home for the funeral, but his father miraculously comes back from the dead, having only suffered a cataleptic attack, which leaves him partially paralyzed and mute.

In Tehuantepec, Narcisco falls in love with Exaltación Henestrosa, a local merchant, and begins an extramarital affair with her, but she runs away with Panfila Palafox, a female singer from the traveling Circus Garabaldi.

Soledad, devastated by her husband’s infidelity, asks a tamal vendor for advice, who counsels her to fall in love again, which she does with her firstborn son, Inocencio.

In 1945, Inocencio is arrested at a riot at a soccer match and meets ventriloquist Wenceslao Moreno in the Chicago police station.

To avoid jail time and get his papers, Wenceslao convinces him to enlist and Inocencio is sent off to fight in World War 2.

Aunty-Light Skin tells Celaya how she met Antonieta Araceli’s father: a riot ensued at El Blanquita Theater when the audience followed Tongolele backstage.

Celaya’s relationship with her mother sours and she attends the local Catholic high school, Immaculate Conception, where she befriends Viviana “Viva” Ozuna, a provocative female classmate and is bullied by the other schoolgirls.

Inocencio dances with Celaya and tells that Soledad conceived him out of wedlock and Narciso planned on abandoning her until Eleuterio convinced him otherwise.