Release Date:May 11, 2010
Pages: 288
Source: Bought
Age Range: Young Adult
It is two years after Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1961. Fourteen year-old Lucia Álvarez lives a life without a single care. This changes in an instant at the day when she is at the beach with her brother, and they see a colonne of military trucks crossing by. From then on her parents are starting to get very strict. Lucia and her brother Frankie aren’t allowed anymore to go outside by themselves, and Lucia’s best friend Ivette starts to act different to; Ivette is joining Jóvenes Rebeldes, the communist youth movement. Because Lucia’s family is not on the side of the revolutionists, people, even family, starts to act different. The situation in Cuba becomes so dangerous that Lucia’s parents have to make a heart-wrenching decision: they have to put Lucia and Frankie on a plane to the United States, alone. In the United States they are being helped by a church program, and eventually they are placed in a foster home with the Baxter family, who are very nice and take good care of them. But will they ever go back home and be reunited with their parents who are still in an increasing more dangerous Cuba?
This is just the kind of book I love. The author just created a gripping picture of life in Cuba during that time. Lucia was a realistic fourteen year old, she has to grow up fast, but she doesn't realize that right away. She doesn't understand all the changes going on in Cuba and she doesn't really want to. All Lucia wants is to have life go back to normal (although she's perfectly happy with school being shut down), not be forced to stay inside. You really see Lucia and her little brother Frankie grow up fast in a gruel world. It was just heartbreaking to read the part where they had to leave Cuba and their parents and stept onto the plane to the US, uncertain of what is waiting there for them.I'm not sure if teenagers today would be able to do what they did. They land in a very loving foster family, but are only able to make a few calls now and then to Cuba for just a few minutes at the time. Really had to hold back some sniffles here and there while reading. Fans of Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez will love this book. Recommended read!
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