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kimiloughlin's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.25
Working my way through Ruth Behar's backlist and she is becoming one of my favorite writers! These stories are gorgeous and interesting and show many sides of Cuba that I didn't know existed. I love that they all are inspired from Behar's family history.
katherinezee's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
MY REVIEW: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is my 3rd middle grades historical fiction novel by this author! Letters from Cuba is an epistolary novel based on the real story of the author’s maternal Polish Jewish grandmother Esther who leaves her mother, grandmother, sister and three brothers and beloved homeland to make the voyage from Poland to Cuba to join her father just a couple of years before the start of WWII. In Cuba, her father is working to make enough money to be able to bring the rest of the family over, but he needs another family member to join him in order to raise funds faster as the anti-Semitic treatment of Jews has escalated throughout Eastern Europe. As an immigrant, the only work he was able to get was as a peddler, but once his oldest daughter Esther arrives, she discovers she has a hidden talent with which she can raise more money faster…and speed is of the essence as Hitler is fast encroaching upon Poland. This award-winning author Ruth Behar hits the ball out of the park once again! I look forward to reading one of her adult novels next!
This is my 3rd middle grades historical fiction novel by this author! Letters from Cuba is an epistolary novel based on the real story of the author’s maternal Polish Jewish grandmother Esther who leaves her mother, grandmother, sister and three brothers and beloved homeland to make the voyage from Poland to Cuba to join her father just a couple of years before the start of WWII. In Cuba, her father is working to make enough money to be able to bring the rest of the family over, but he needs another family member to join him in order to raise funds faster as the anti-Semitic treatment of Jews has escalated throughout Eastern Europe. As an immigrant, the only work he was able to get was as a peddler, but once his oldest daughter Esther arrives, she discovers she has a hidden talent with which she can raise more money faster…and speed is of the essence as Hitler is fast encroaching upon Poland. This award-winning author Ruth Behar hits the ball out of the park once again! I look forward to reading one of her adult novels next!
bickie's review
4.0
Based on her grandmother's experience (though fictionalized) and told through "letters" written to Esther's sister, Malka, who is still in Poland. The letters are written in an old accounting ledger to be shared with Malka when she finally comes to Cuba. At times, there is explanation in what are essentially journal entries that seem unlikely but helpful for any reader who is not an observant Jew.
There is a constant feeling of unease, wondering whether different characters will cheat Esther and Avrum, her father, as they work hard to make enough money to bring Esther's mother, Hannah, Malka, three brothers and Bubbe to Cuba. There is also beautiful depiction of Cuba and strong community made of people from different cultures and religions. There is Ma Felipa, born into slavery, and her West African rituals, Juan and Francisco Chang, who are immigrants from China and point out that there were Chinese workers in the sugar mills as well, and Doctor Pablo, and atheist, and his wife, Señora Graciela, who lost a child to leukemia.
Full of love and optimism while addressing cruelty and injustice.
There is a constant feeling of unease, wondering whether different characters will cheat Esther and Avrum, her father, as they work hard to make enough money to bring Esther's mother, Hannah, Malka, three brothers and Bubbe to Cuba. There is also beautiful depiction of Cuba and strong community made of people from different cultures and religions. There is Ma Felipa, born into slavery, and her West African rituals, Juan and Francisco Chang, who are immigrants from China and point out that there were Chinese workers in the sugar mills as well, and Doctor Pablo, and atheist, and his wife, Señora Graciela, who lost a child to leukemia.
Full of love and optimism while addressing cruelty and injustice.
ashleyeila's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
marisaka42's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
claudie_fm's review
3.0
YA book loosely based on Ruth Behar’s family travails. I felt a deep correlation with my own family history and the issues of bigotry, racism, antisemitism and migration that still abound to this day. Cuba, a small island country of such countless beauty and cultural diversity - is depicted as a refuge from the horrors of pre-WW II Europe. I was reminded of Gabor Mate’s theory of generational trauma. Fast read.
june_s's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jwinchell's review
5.0
I’m a big Ruth Behar fan. I loved Lucky Broken Girl and she did amazingly with a version of her family’s escape from early Nazi Europe to Cuba. Esther’s father had gone ahead from Poland a few years before and had saved enough for one family member to join him, and Esther, eldest child of 5, insisted that it be her. We learn about her experiences traveling to and in Cuba from the letters she collects in a notebook to her younger sister Malka. The author’s note is, of course, worth reading as we learn that Esther is based on Behar’s Baba, who forged a life for the family in Cuba before moving to New York. Esther makes many friends in the countryside town they reside in, including Afro Cubans with a history of enslavement and Chinese immigrants. They also encounter some Nazi inspired hatred, which made its way to Cuba. Behar weaves the history and the traditions in so effortlessly; I can tell that she is also an anthropologist. I loved this novel in letters— an epistolary— and will recommend it to students who want to learn a new angle of WW II history.
abanas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
christinavarela's review
3.0
Recommended by one of my students. Quick read. I appreciated the blending of the cultures. As World War II loomed I kept expecting something really horrible to happen.