Do You like book Flight To Freedom: First Person Fiction (2004)?
At first I was kind of bored by this book, which came off as more of a history lesson about Cuban immigration to Miami than an actual novel. But once I got over my disappointment in the relative stasis of the characters, I enjoyed learning something about this culture which I know almost nothing about. I knew that Miami had lots of Cubans, but I knew very little about their experience leaving Cuba or their experience in the US. The book comes across as very pro-American (there is shockingly little about racism or anti-immigrant discrimination in the US) and very anti-communism. The author knows what she's talking about, as a Cuban immigrant herself, but I think that kids reading this should also be exposed to some information that highlights the good things about post-revolutionary Cuba as well.For example, did you know that every year, the Cuban government gives 5,000 full med school scholarships to foreign students without the resources to go to medical school in their home country? Then, upon graduation, those students are required to...return to their home country to improve the medical programs in their own communities! Say what you want about oppressive communism, that's a pretty cool program.
—Abraham
Flight to Freedom is a richly detailed novel about Yara's immigration from Cuba to Miami. I knew very little about Cuba and Cuban history before I read this, but Ana Veciana-Suarez did a great job of detailing everything - Yara's sorrows over leaving Cuba and learning to live in Miami were very compelling and kept the plot moving.That being said, Yara's character felt a bit flat at times, as if the novel's purpose was teaching history instead of telling a story. I didn't see much change in her; (view spoiler)[despite her new and different surroundings, she clung very tightly to her father's notion that they would be back in Cuba by next year, an issue that could have been given a little more depth. (hide spoiler)]
—Natalie Schriefer
Yara Garcia lives in Cuba with her family in the late 1960s. The Communist Revolution of Fidel Castro has transformed the beautiful island country into a divided nation. Yara and her family flee Cuba on one of the Freedom Flights, but they are forced to leave anything of value and Yara’s older brother, Pepito, must remain in Cuba with the army. Her family, one member short, struggles to make life as exiles in Miami work while still clinging to the hope that their situation is only temporary.•tNo language or other issues•tTold through Yara’s diary entries
—Mrs W
