From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…

The Red Umbrella

Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Start date: August 1, 2010

Finish date: August 31, 2010

Why we're reading this: After a very close count "The Red Umbrella" was chosen over "Keeper" by Kathi Appelt and "Countdown" by D…more
[close] After a very close count "The Red Umbrella" was chosen over "Keeper" by Kathi Appelt and "Countdown" by Deborah Wiles.

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Jul 25, 2010 Wendy rated it liked it

I liked this book, but it was just close enough to what I was hoping for to be a little frustrating. It took me ages to get through the first few chapters--so much so that I now owe tons of money in library fines (I prefer to think of this as my regular open-amount library tithing) because I got it through interlibrary loan and didn't want to return it unread even though it was feeling like homework, because that seems like a waste of library resources.

The beginning is exposition-heavy, probably I liked this book, but it was just close enough to what I was hoping for to be a little frustrating. It took me ages to get through the first few chapters--so much so that I now owe tons of money in library fines (I prefer to think of this as my regular open-amount library tithing) because I got it through interlibrary loan and didn't want to return it unread even though it was feeling like homework, because that seems like a waste of library resources.

The beginning is exposition-heavy, probably necessary because I don't think anyone knows that much about the Cuban revolution, especially young readers. Other people reading this review are now shaking their heads at my ignorance, but come on: I didn't live through this era, and we didn't really get that far in school, and I don't really trust what I've picked up from Che t-shirts and Dirty Dancing II: Havana Nights. (Which I have not actually seen.) Anyway, the exposition-heavy parts are pretty heavy-handed. (I just looked up "exposition" on wikipedia to make sure I was saying what I thought I was saying.) Kind of like Countdown. People who had no problems with Countdown will probably really like the beginning of The Red Umbrella. (I'm really snarky this morning, as well as ignorant.)

The story picked up for me fabulously once the kids left Cuba. I've always liked stories about British evacuees and it's sort of like that, crossed with the experiences of my grandmother and her friends coming to random towns in the US as English war-brides. Leaving Cuba for Nebraska seems like a very specific kind of hell, and that is a pretty interesting part of the book. I was also fascinated by the idea of all these nice American white Catholic families taking in Cuban children. I had no idea such a thing happened. But the thing is, there's almost no conflict in this book. Where's the DRAMA? Why is the foster family so nice and generous with what they have even though they don't have any money? Why does Lucia find friends right away even though one girl is mean to her? Why doesn't she flip out about having to do farm work even though she grew up in a nice middle-class intellectual home? Okay, those are all cliches from OTHER refugee books, but I wish there had been SOMETHING. I mean, it's adorable when the foster mother tries to replicate a Cuban Christmas Eve feast and Midwesterns the hell out of it, but all I kept thinking was "wow, this is working out really well for everyone!".

So, it's worth reading, but not something I can get excited about and wave around.

A peculiar thing that is maybe because this is a first novel, and I could be way wrong but it seems like the author might not be that familiar with YA and/or juvenile fiction: the writing is too young for the subject matter and events. There are incidents of violence and murder and a semi-specific reference to rape of a young teenage girl, and political talk and assumed knowledge about Communism, but the writing is more suited to, say, fourth or fifth grade readers than the middle school/early high school readers that I feel like it's aimed at. It's not like I have a problem with any of that in a book for younger kids, really, but I sensed a mismatch between sophistication and reading level. Like, it seems confusing for the young reader, but might be considered babyish by the older reader. ...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Kristine rated it really liked it

Shelves: mock-newbery, kids-lit, young-adult, historical-fiction

Lucia (14) and Frankie (7) are in Cuba at the start of the Castro Revolution. Lucia's parents try to survive the revolution by not showing a preference for either side. He soon loses his job at the bank and soldiers come and take all of their possessions and their Papa is arrested. Their parents haven't let the children join their friends in the jovenes groups, and think they will soon be forced to send their kids away for indoctrination. They make the choice to send their children to the US ins ...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Tamsyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, books-that-teach, travel-multicultural, fms, youngadult

Excellent story of a girl in Cuba in 1961, under the increasing demands of the Revolution. Her family is forced to make the difficult decision, as the situation continues to deteriorate, of sending Lucia and her brother Frankie, to the U. S. to be safe. The book is based on the author's parents' experiences. ...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Jess rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, juv

A fascinating look at a period of history that was mostly unfamiliar to me - the lives of children who were sent from Cuba to live in the US after the revolution. Since the story starts in Cuba, the reader gets a great sense of contrast between the two worlds, and the characters are sympathetic. It also gives a glimpse into the way propaganda can shape a person's impressions of a country or political movement. The historical setting is vivid, and the characters realistic in their faults and stre ...more

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