by Carlos Eire
First published 2007
Carlos Eire grows up in Havana surrounded by lizards and turquoise seas under brilliant sunshine. His world revolves around street music, Christmas celebrations, and the familiar rhythms of Cuban life. Then a guerrilla fighter named Fidel Castro seizes power and transforms the island. Street melodies give way to gunfire. The government bans Christmas. Dissent leads to imprisonment. One by one, Carlos watches his friends leave for the distant and unimaginable United States. In 1962, Carlos becomes one of 14,841 children evacuated from Cuba through Operation Pedro Pan, separated from his family and homeland by revolution. He finds himself in exile, fulfilling his mother's dream that he become a modern American man. Yet his soul remains tied to the country of his birth. Told with the urgency of confession, this memoir serves as both exorcism and tribute to a lost world, honoring the collective spirit of Cubans wherever they may be.
Genres: 20th-century, coming-of-age, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Cuba, Havana, United States
Period: 1962, Cuban Revolution
528 pages · Paperback · Vintage Espanol