A review by abigailbat
The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

4.0

It's 1961 and Fidel Castro has taken over Cuba. At first the Revolution is fun - Lucia and her younger brother Frankie get a vacation from school because the private schools have been closed. Lucia's planning on shopping and hanging out with her best friend Ivette. But her parents won't let her go out. And they won't let her join the youth movement of the revolution like many of Lucia's friends. And soon Lucia starts to see the darker side of the revolution. When the danger becomes too great, Lucia's parents send her and Frankie by themselves to America, just like thousands of other Cuban children who are part of what eventually becomes known as Operation Pedro Pan. All by themselves in a strange country where they barely speak the language... Everything's changing for Lucia and Frankie... will life ever go back to normal? Will they ever see Cuba - or their parents - again?

Lush descriptions of Cuba and Lucia's life there made me feel like i was right there beside her. Even though Lucia and Frankie don't leave Cuba until halfway through the book, I never felt like the plot was moving too slowly. This is a great look into an event that many children won't be familiar with and it's a fantastic debut. Highly recommended.