Includes a brief timeline of Cuban history (pages 301-319).
Contents:
The campaign--Havana, March 1961 -- Back to the beginning--Havana, 1947-1958 -- My secondary school--Havana, 1958-1959 -- Preparing to leave--Havana, March 1961 -- Varadero training camp--April 1961 -- Into the Escambray mountains--April 1961 -- Our squad--Base camp, April 1961 -- My new family--arriving on assignment, early May 1961 -- Writing his own name--At the Santanas' farm, May 1961 -- I can read!--On assignment, June-July 1961 -- Danger--July 1961 -- Life goes on--On assignment, July-September 1961 -- The accident--at the Santanas' farm, September 1961 -- Too hard--October 1961 -- The decision--Late October 1961 -- Celebrations--November 1961 -- ¡Venceremos!--November-December 1961 -- ¡Vencimos!--Leaving the mountains, December 1961.
Summary:
When thirteen-year-old Lora tells her parents that she wants to join Premier Castro's army of young literacy teachers, her mother screeches to high heaven, and her father roars like a lion. Lora has barely been outside of Havana -- why would she throw away her life in a remote shack with no electricity, sleeping on a hammock in somebody's kitchen? But Lora is stubborn: didn't her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Surprisingly, Lora's abuela takes her side, even as she makes Lora promise to come home if things get too hard. But how will Lora know for sure when that time has come? Shining light on a little-known moment in history, Katherine Paterson traces a young teen's coming-of-age journey from a sheltered life to a singular mission: teaching fellow Cubans of all ages to read and write, while helping with the work of their daily lives and sharing the dangers posed by counterrevolutionaries hiding in the hills nearby.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.