By the author of 2021 Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of
Nestor Lopez, a sweeping, emotional middle grade historical novel about
a twelve-year-old boy who leaves his family in Cuba to immigrate to the
U.S. by himself, based on the author's family history.
*
"I don't remember. Tell me everything, Pepito. Tell me about Cuba."*
When the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 solidifies Castro's power
in Cuba, twelve-year-old Cumba's family makes the difficult decision to
send him to Florida alone. Faced with the prospect of living in another
country by himself, Cumba tries to remember the sound of his father's
clarinet, the smell of his mother's lavender perfume.
Life in the United States presents a whole new set of challenges. Lost
in a sea of English speakers, Cumba has to navigate a new city, a new
school, and new freedom all on his own. With each day, Cumba feels more
confident in his new surroundings, but he continues to wonder: Will his
family ever be whole again? Or will they remain just out of reach,
ninety miles across the sea?
**A Kirkus Best Children's Book of the Year
**
...Cuevas' latest is a triumph of the heart...A compassionate,
emotionally astute portrait of a young Cuban in exile. --Kirkus,
STARRED REVIEW
Cuevas' intense and immersive account of a Cuban boy's experience after
the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion brings a specific point in history
alive. --*Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
*
Cuevas packs this sophomore novel with palpable emotions and themes of
friendship, love, longing, and trauma, attentively conveying tumultuous
historical events from the lens of one young refugee. -- Publishers
Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
