Cuba in My Pocket

By the author of 2021 Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, a sweeping, emotional middle grade historical novel about a twelve-year-old boy who leaves his family in Cuba to immigrate to the U.S. by himself, based on the author's family history.

"I don't remember. Tell me everything, Pepito. Tell me about Cuba."

When the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 solidifies Castro's power in Cuba, twelve-year-old Cumba's family makes the difficult decision to send him to Florida alone. Faced with the prospect of living in another country by himself, Cumba tries to remember the sound of his father's clarinet, the smell of his mother's lavender perfume.

Life in the United States presents a whole new set of challenges. Lost in a sea of English speakers, Cumba has to navigate a new city, a new school, and new freedom all on his own. With each day, Cumba feels more confident in his new surroundings, but he continues to wonder: Will his family ever be whole again? Or will they remain just out of reach, ninety miles across the sea?

A Kirkus Best Children's Book of the Year

...Cuevas' latest is a triumph of the heart...A compassionate, emotionally astute portrait of a young Cuban in exile. --Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

Cuevas' intense and immersive account of a Cuban boy's experience after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion brings a specific point in history alive. --Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

Cuevas packs this sophomore novel with palpable emotions and themes of friendship, love, longing, and trauma, attentively conveying tumultuous historical events from the lens of one young refugee. -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

Author: Adrianna Cuevas
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 09/21/2021
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.44h x 5.74w x 1.02d
ISBN: 9780374314675
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.8
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 515010 / Cuba in My Pocket

Award: Golden Kite - Honor Book

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/15/2021 pg. 57
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2021
Publishers Weekly 09/13/2021
School Library Journal 10/01/2021 pg. 82
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2021 pg. 99

About the Author
Adrianna Cuevas is the author of The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez (FSG BYR, 2020). She is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. After teaching Spanish and ESOL for sixteen years, she decided to pursue her passion for storytelling. Adrianna currently resides outside of Austin, TX with her husband and son where they enjoy hiking, traveling, and cooking lots of Cuban food.