THE RED UMBRELLA by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

• Publication Season/Year: Summer 2010
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Release Date: May 11, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): 0375861904
• ISBN (paperback): TBD

The Red Umbrella is the moving tale of a 14-year-old girl’s journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan—an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro’s revolution.

In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched.

As the revolution’s impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía’s parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own.

Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

The Red Umbrella is a moving story of country, culture, family, and the true meaning of home.A year after the communist revolution, fourteen year old Lucia still leads a carefree life in Cuba thinking only of parties and boys.  But this all changes on the day the soldiers arrive in her small town and she is forced to face certain truths about her family, friends and country.

As the weeks pass and the effects of the revolution are felt all around, Lucia’s parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States… alone.  In a new country, away from her parents, what will Lucia do with her newfound freedom?  Will she ever see her parents or her home again?  And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

This story is loosely based on the author’s own parents’ experience and that of over 14,000 other children who were part of Operation Pedro Pan – the largest exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere.

TORTILLA SUN By Jennifer Cervantes

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: Chronicle
• Release Date: May 05, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover):ISBN 9780811870153