Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Narrated by Kyla Garcia. Fidel Castro's revolution is rising but Lucia's father wants no part of it. Several of Lucia's friends are getting involved with the Youth Brigade but Luica isn't allowed to participate. Lucia witnesses unwelcome changes in her community such as school closures, soldiers in the streets, and seeing the grocer's body hanging from a tree. As pressures mount, Lucia's parents announce that they are sending her and younger brother Frankie to the United States until things in Cuba improve. Lucia and Frankie end up in Nebraska living with the Baxters, a farming couple. Sporadic phone conversations with her parents sustain Lucia as she learns English, navigates American culture and high school, and makes friends. Narrator Garcia portrays a Lucia who is resilient with grace and is particularly effective voicing Mrs. Baxter's Wisconsin accent.… (mehr)

This was mostly fast-paced and exciting, but it had a few too many cliches in it (for me--young readers are usually less bothered by that kind of thing).

My favorite character was Ella/Grace who was great at pretending to be playing both sides. Otherwise, all of the characters felt pretty flat to me. Parker had potential, but I couldn't get over the convenience of Katrina meeting a genius hacker at the exact moment she needed that exact kind of help. This had the potential to be ORPHAN BLACK for kids, but wasn't nearly as creative or compelling. … (mehr)