90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Gallis

I have to admit that I chose this book because I had to include a couple of “middle school books” on my reading list and I did not think that it would be something I would seriously consider reading with my students, but I was wrong.  This is a book that anyone at any age could enjoy.  It happens to be about a young boy, I think about 9 or 10 years old, but it tells of an entertaining adventure and emotional struggles that anyone would enjoy reading or could relate to.  I chose this book over many other middle school titles because it describes a scenario that many of my students can relate to and I wanted to learn more about – moving to Miami from Cuba and adjusting to a new culture.  This story takes place during the 1960’s, when 14,000 children were sent to America from Cuba without their parents to escape the revolution and the new regime.  Even my students from other Latin American countries probably would learn about a time in history that they didn’t know much about.  This book lends itself easily to cross-curricular extension activities such as learning about the Cuban revolution or about America’s changing policies regarding Cuban refugees.  I think that it could also be a great tool for introducing a unit on bullying, which is a very important topic for today’s schools. 

In the story, Julian (the young protagonist) has to defend himself against a bully-turned-mini-dictator in the children’s refugee camp in Miami.  At first he has his brothers’ protection, but once they are taken from him he uses his cleverness and his sense of morality to help set things right in the camp so that none of the children have to be tormented anymore.  He even navigates his way through the streets of Miami and eventually the 90 mile stretch of water that separates Cuba from the United States to help rescue others from Cuba.  He becomes a hero in more ways than one, and when he is reunited with his family in Connecticut and starts school there, he is no longer intimidated by anyone.

I think this book could lead to a variety of writing assignments, and this could be a perfect opportunity to provide a choice for students.  They could write a personal narrative about an experience they have had with a bully, a mini-research paper about the effects of bullying or how it can be prevented, or they could write a short story about someone who faces a bully.  This would allow all students to learn more, develop empathy, and/or express their own struggles – whichever that student needs to do, he or she would have the opportunity to do.