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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
What a cute story! It reminded me of The War That Saved My Life. It was interesting to read about Cuba and Fidel Castroâs âRevolution.â I would definitely recommend this book, and especially the audiobook.
I'm still digesting this book as I knew next to nothing about this period in history (Castro's revolutionary Cuba) and the author gives you a lot to think about.... Lucia is a 14 year old girl living in Cuba in 1961, who loves fashion magazines, day dreaming about boys, and dances, as Castro's revolution comes to her small village. Friendships, families, and ways of life are wretchedly changed. When it is no longer safe for Lucia and her brother, her parents send them to the US as part of Operation Pedro Pan. The story fills the reader with uncertainty and fear for the characters' safety. However, Gonzalez knows she is writing for children and keeps the action and direction of the book contained so it doesn't become overwhelming. The book illuminates an interesting time in Cuban American history. I could see it being shortlisted for the Newbery.
Gonzalez does an exquisite job with describing the richness of Cuban life and its environment. By doing so Lucia's feelings of homesickness really resonated with me and evoked empathetic feelings. I loved how vivid Lucia in particular is as a character. Gonzalez also does an excellent job exploring how friendships, families, and ways of life are wretchedly changed and laying bare the bewilderment of Lucia, her friends, and family. The evolution in the friendship between Lucia and Ivette was terrific and well done. The story fills the reader with uncertainty and fear for the characters' safety. However, Gonzalez knows she is writing for children and keeps the action and direction of the book contained so it doesn't become overwhelming.
Gonzalez does an exquisite job with describing the richness of Cuban life and its environment. By doing so Lucia's feelings of homesickness really resonated with me and evoked empathetic feelings. I loved how vivid Lucia in particular is as a character. Gonzalez also does an excellent job exploring how friendships, families, and ways of life are wretchedly changed and laying bare the bewilderment of Lucia, her friends, and family. The evolution in the friendship between Lucia and Ivette was terrific and well done. The story fills the reader with uncertainty and fear for the characters' safety. However, Gonzalez knows she is writing for children and keeps the action and direction of the book contained so it doesn't become overwhelming.
I have to admit that I recall little US history from the 1960s era. (Sorry, mom and dad!) To imagine children being sent away from home to escape Castro's regime seems unthinkable today. (Can kids even fly alone anymore?) To imagine the difficulty a parent faced in making that decision is heartbreaking.
The story beautifully captures the struggles Lucia faced leaving her life behind and adjusting to a new home. And her lessons along the way resonate with any teenager.
The story beautifully captures the struggles Lucia faced leaving her life behind and adjusting to a new home. And her lessons along the way resonate with any teenager.
Interesting setting (Cuba and US as Castro takes over) for a book about a young girl coming to understand the world and how it works. Despite the challenges and confusion faced by the main protagonist, this felt more like a juvenile than a true young adult read because there isn't extensive depth or much delving into complex issues.
It took me a long while to get into this book, but once I connected with the narrator, it went much faster. Overall, I enjoyed it. I loved the historical perspective. The Cuban Revolution is not something I knew a lot about, and now I’m more interested to read more.
Honestly an amazing, heart warming book with an outstanding ending. It kept my heart clenched until the very last words. Also a great way for me to keep my Spanish from getting rusty! Overall, a wonderful book to have read. I’ll have to read it again some time!
This would be a great read for level 2 or 3 ELL students.
Quick read, sobbed at the end, takes place partly in Nebraska, follows a young Cuban girl and her brother on their path to America and hopefully, someday, back to their parents
interesting. i enjoyed the newspaper headlines that introduced each chapter
The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez is definitely one of the sweetest books I've read in a long time. Gonzalez takes a tumultuous period of time—the Communist revolution in Cuba, and turns it into a family-oriented, sweet and realistic tale about culture and home. In other words, I loved it.
Lucia Alvarez is a typical teen girl. She has a best friend to squeal over clothes with, a mother who won't let her wear make-up (even though she desperately wants too), a little brother that can be annoying at times, and a crush to daydream about. Her biggest worry was what to wear to her first dance....Fidel Castro took over her home, Cuba. Then her happy life vanishes as Communism and Socialism reign. Her family doesn't support it, they don't join in with the revolutionaries. The consequence? At worst, they're avoided. At best, they're scorned. And they're also watched, betrayed, arrested, and scorned. Once Lucia realizes that you can't trust anyone, it becomes apparent that things have gotten way too dangerous for her and her little brother. Her parents have no choice but to send them secretly away, miles away, to the United States to seek some generous hospitality, and more importantly, asylum.
I know I've already said it, but this story is so touching and heartfelt. Lucia experiences and sees things that we can only imagine, but she still remains strong and hopeful. And when she loses almost everything, she doesn't fight like the revolutionaries do. She retaliates in her own way, by making the best of her situation.
It was also really moving to see how close the Alvarezes were. Nowadays, it's hard to find such true, family love. But by depending on each other, brother to sister, sister to mother, mother to father, and the father was the foundation of them all. Everything about this story, the message, the writing, the little bits of humor, the characters, is lovable and charming.
I recommend it to any youth who's in search for a deep, historical or realistic novel. Look no more, this is it.
Lucia Alvarez is a typical teen girl. She has a best friend to squeal over clothes with, a mother who won't let her wear make-up (even though she desperately wants too), a little brother that can be annoying at times, and a crush to daydream about. Her biggest worry was what to wear to her first dance....Fidel Castro took over her home, Cuba. Then her happy life vanishes as Communism and Socialism reign. Her family doesn't support it, they don't join in with the revolutionaries. The consequence? At worst, they're avoided. At best, they're scorned. And they're also watched, betrayed, arrested, and scorned. Once Lucia realizes that you can't trust anyone, it becomes apparent that things have gotten way too dangerous for her and her little brother. Her parents have no choice but to send them secretly away, miles away, to the United States to seek some generous hospitality, and more importantly, asylum.
I know I've already said it, but this story is so touching and heartfelt. Lucia experiences and sees things that we can only imagine, but she still remains strong and hopeful. And when she loses almost everything, she doesn't fight like the revolutionaries do. She retaliates in her own way, by making the best of her situation.
It was also really moving to see how close the Alvarezes were. Nowadays, it's hard to find such true, family love. But by depending on each other, brother to sister, sister to mother, mother to father, and the father was the foundation of them all. Everything about this story, the message, the writing, the little bits of humor, the characters, is lovable and charming.
I recommend it to any youth who's in search for a deep, historical or realistic novel. Look no more, this is it.