Efren grew up in poverty, lost both of his parents to death, and lost his home to an abusive "guardian". But there's one thing he hasn't lost - his brother, Daniel. After running away from their broken home, the two brothers eventually part ways; Daniel joins a group of street breakdancers, while Efren falls into the clutches of a criminal organization. Daniel is successful in his new career, while Efren gains popularity inside the mob. Efren pickpockets, transports drugs, and even kills a boy his age before being shot by a rival gang member. It isn't until Efren finds himself lying in an alley, dying from his gunshot wound, that he realizes just how emotionally close he was to Daniel. He laments his grim situation and hopes to be able to see his brother again. However, he dies before his brother finds him, and it isn't until then that Daniel realizes how much he loved his brother, and how his untimely death shook him. This emotionally-gripping tale tells the story of brotherhood, perseverance, freedom, and how death can bring us closer together.

I was only six when my father passed away. He had been battling with cancer, an aggressive form of colon cancer, for four long years. I was not by his side when he left this world, but my mother was. She was emotionally scarred and heartbroken, spending many days afterwards in mourning. It was hard for me too, knowing that the house was one person closer to emptiness. At school, many of the other kids had siblings, some older, some younger. It saddened me to realize that I would never have any of my own, for I was an only child. But four months after my father died, my mother found herself a new boyfriend. I saw them holding hands and exchanging kisses. Soon, the two had rings on their left ring finger - they had been married. My mother became pregnant with a child, and it would become my half-brother. At first, I didn't know what "half-" meant. I thought it meant a person cut in half. A baby that was relatively in one piece came out on delivery day. My mother explained what the "half-" meant and begged me to treat him like my full brother. And I did. He grew up thinking that his father was my father, and his mother was my mother, and that we were all one big, happy family, united socially and genetically. He would soon learn the truth. The terrible truth. And when my mother's second marriage turned sour, he has to make a difficult decision. He knows that I'm only his half-brother... but will he still treat me and love me like a full brother?

For much of his life, Garrett has grown up in the slums of Manila. Every day, he and his family go out to the infamous Smokey Mountain - a large landfill - "scavenging" through other people's garbage in order to find scraps they can resell for profit. His father and his older brother have both left home, leaving him, his mother, and his younger brother Evan to fend for themselves. Garrett loves his younger brother dearly, and one night, promises to find a way to send him back to school. He leaves home and follows the path his father and older brother took - a life of crime in the city's underbelly - with the intention of bringing his earnings home to spare his family the need to scavenge. He joins a street gang and begins to garner some approval and admiration for his efforts. It isn't long before the gang leader sends him off on his first mission: robbing a jewellery store owned by a rival gang. Garrett believes strongly in his ability to complete the job and to return home safely to his younger brother. But the mission goes awry, and it isn't long before he's in trouble with the law...

Jace just never gets along with Troy, does he? His little brother wets the bed, doesn't know how to play games properly, and just gets in the way in general. It takes a fight, some tears, and Jace's cousin Spencer to mend the wounds between the two. Jace needs to learn how to apologize-and what it means to be a brother.