I've only just begun to read this book, but I like it so far. I'll be honest, my first reaction to this book was something like this: "This book will probably be good for Latino/a students, as they might have experienced some of the same things that Lucía goes through." I continued thinking about it, though, and I realized that one Cuban girl's story from the 1960s may not resonate with current day Latino/a students, perhaps from Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala--wherever. The fact is, just because this protagonist is Latina does not mean that many of my future Latina students will identify with her and enjoy this book. So, my question to those who have read this book also is: what sort of student would you try and recommend this book to? Immigrant students? Cuban students? Students with parents in their home countries?
I guess what I'm asking is, simply, how would you incorporate this book? It would certainly lend itself to history curriculum surrounding the Cold War era and the whole Communist/Capitalist aggression during the period. Personally, I think this is the book's strong point. The historical aspect could help history and English teachers work together and plan collaboratively around a unit on the cold war and what it was like to be caught in between the "warring" sides.
Ultimately, I'm looking forward to finishing this book, and it is one that I think has value in a classroom. What I'm struggling with, and this is due in large to not being very far along in the book, is what demographic looks like of students that would benefit from this book. Perhaps that is one thing I'll learn as a teacher--don't assume your students will take to a certain book based on extraneous factors. Regardless, I like this book's potential. I'm just trying to quantify exactly what that potential is.
I honestly liked this book so much that I would say you could recommend it to anyone. No, it's not very relatable in the specifics, but I'm sure many students have had to be away from their parents, even for camp, or for whatever reason. Maybe they know what it's like to take care of a sibling.
ReplyDeleteI think this book is great for showing the human side of history. I've always had an interest in Cuba (probably at least partly because I can't go there), so this story was sort of an eye-opener. I didn't realize that the child migration was as big as it was, I only assumed whole families would go.
This is a great book to do a joint unit on, and I, as an English teacher, would pay close attention to the newspaper titles. I think some research could be done around that, and what a great way in to the topic of perspective!