The Red Umbrella

Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. The Red Umbrella. 2010. 284p. ISBN 0-375-86190-4. Available at FIC GON on the library shelves.

Lucía and her family live in Cuba. Two years ago, Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries seized power, and up to the beginning of 1961 it has had limited impacts on Lucía and her younger brother. Her parents, however, have noticed the change. When soldiers show up in town and begin executing perceived enemies of the state, the Álvarez siblings are witnesses. School is cancelled for the rest of the year, as the government attempts to redefine what a Cuban education should be like. The imposition of communist values on her small town change life for the worse. People are now disappearing and are not being seen again. Neighbors begin to inform on other neighbors. Lucía loses access to her beloved American fashion magazines. Her father, who works at the bank, is under tremendous pressure to conform to new values.

As the situation degrades and oppression increases, Lucía feels the tension. When she stumbles upon the hanging body of the town pharmacist, it is too much. Her illusions are shattered. Her best friend, meanwhile, wholly adopts the communist outlook and is drifting away from Lucía. Her father loses his job at the bank and is arrested for hiding his money in the house’s floor. With all the uncertainty, the family is faced with a stark choice: Remain here and fight the oppression at the risk of their lives, or flee.

Lucía and her brother obtain departure visas and are sent to Nebraska, where they meet the Bakers, their foster parents. As things continue to get worse in Cuba, the children will now have to adapt to a new environment and a new language. At first they hope this exile will only be temporary but as time drags on they realize that their identity is already changing.

A coming-of-age novel coupled with a traumatic forced migration, The Red Umbrella focuses on Lucía’s growth as a person and her resilience in the face of life-changing events. Fans of Lucky Broken Girl, which also deals with Cuban immigrant attempting to adapt to life in a new country.

Lucky Broken Girl

Behar, Ruth. Lucky Broken Girl. 2017. 242p. ISBN 978-0-399-54644-0. Available at FIC BEH on the library shelves.

Recently immigrants from Communist Cuba, the Mizrahi family has escaped the regime with a bare minimum of possessions. Finding themselves living in New York City, the extended family is enjoying freedom but life can be difficult at time. Ruthie’s father works six days a week to put food on the table, while her mother works around the house to ensure that everyone eats well and is clothed properly.

Ten-year-old Ruthie and her brother enjoy their lives in Queens, but she also misses many aspects of Cuba including the food and some of the customs. Living in a cosmopolitan building filled with recent immigrants, Ruthie shares her time with her brother and with friends, including Danielle, from Belgium, and Ravi, from India. First placed in the dumb class at school, she is soon promoted to the smart class once her English gets better.

Unfortunately for her, the Sunday before her move to her new class, the family visits an aunt and uncle on Staten Island in her father’s new car, but a tragic car accident that costs the lives of several teenagers sends her to the hospital with a broken leg. The doctor soon informs her that she will need to spend at least six months in a body cast stretching from her ankles to her chest. She will not be able to seat, move, or even go to the bathroom without help. Her mother now becomes her full-time care giver.

Stuck in bed with nothing to do, Ruthie suddenly has nothing but time on her hands. With a teacher coming to visit every other day, Ruthie soon catches up to her studies and improves her reading skills. But with no chance to experience life outside the four walls of her bedroom, Ruthie’s shrinking world forces her to develop a resilience she did not expect, and she realizes that friends and family are always there for her, even in the worst of times of one’s life.

For another story of Cuban children fleeing their island and integrating into life in the United States, take a look at The Red Umbrella, a story of adaptation in the face of adversity.