Winner of the 2018 Pura Belpre Award!
"A book for anyone mending from childhood wounds."--Sandra Cisneros,
author of The House on Mango Street
In this unforgettable multicultural coming-of-age narrative--based on
the author's childhood in the 1960s--a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl
is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is
suddenly derailed. Ruthie's plight will intrigue readers, and her
powerful story of strength and resilience, full of color, light, and
poignancy, will stay with them for a long time.
Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro's Cuba to
New York City. Just when she's finally beginning to gain confidence in
her mastery of English--and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood's
hopscotch queen--a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and
confined her to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie's world shrinks
because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her
heart grow larger and she comes to understand how fragile life is, how
vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and
the power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times.