90 Miles to Havana
Based on the author’s experiences during the Cuban revolution and then his departure under Operation Pedro Pan Operation, a little publicized State Department operation that enabled the exodus of 14,000 unaccompanied children to the U.S.
The narrator, Julian, presents a child’s view of the Cuban Revolution and life in the overcrowded camps where children of the Pedro Pan airlift landed. Julian must decide how he is to deal with Caballo, the bully. Will he model his response on the events he witnessed during the Cuban Revolution, or do it the new democratic way, as Dolores the camp cook recommends?
90 Miles to Havana is a 2011 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Narrative.
Also: 2011 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, the ALSC Notable Children's Book, CCBC choice (U of WI), Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award Master List, New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award Master List, Oklahoma Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award Master List
Praise for 90 Miles to Havana
Animated book trailer drawn by the author Enrique Flores-Galbis
about children who were evacuated from Cuba to the U.S. during Operation Pedro Pan in 1961. . . a seldom told refugee story that will move readers with the first-person, present-tense rescue narrative, filled with betrayal, kindness, and waiting for what may never come.
Hazel Rochman Booklist Reviews