Castro's communist regime gained control of Cuba in 1959, sparking a surge of immigration to the United States, particularly Miami, as refugees sought a better life. But for many, Cuba will always be home. The island's stories pass from refugee to refugee, immigrant to grandchild, mingling hope for the future with grief for what's lost. Yet these stories also pass down a deep, unconscious desire for the unattainable, which often results in fractured relationships and a loss of purpose for both young and old. Grieving for Guava revels in the unbroken ties between past and future, Havana and Miami, and recounts the unintended generational costs of immigration. Ten stories explore the lives of Cuban refugees in Miami as they grapple with a longing for the past and a fervent need to move forward. Spanning six decades of the Cuban exile, these stories lay bare a collective struggle to overcome the destabilizing effects of migration and to reassemble splintered identities: A journalist returns to the island for a childhood toy. An investment banker leaves Miami to open a bookstore near the Malecon. A girl with cerebral palsy attempts to swim across the ocean to reach her lost home. Cecilia Fernandez artfully weaves together the complicated lives of her characters to produce an overarching sense of yearning for the past, transforming grief into an even more powerful force: communion. Grieving for Guava captures the heartache and hope that are common in the immigrant experience, adding a dynamic, human voice to the politically charged dialogue surrounding immigration.
Revolution uprooted six-year-old Cecilia from her comfortable middle-class Cuban home and dropped her into the low-income neighborhood of Miami’s Little Havana. Her philandering father focused on rebuilding his career, chasing the American promise of wealth and freedom from the past. Her mother spiraled into madness trying to hold the family together and get him back. Neglected and trapped, Cecilia rebelled against her conservative culture and embraced the 1960s counter-culture - seeking love, attention and a place of her own in America. But immigrant children either thrive or self-destruct in a new land. How will Cecilia beat the odds? While most memoirs by Cuban-Americans revolve around childhood scenes in Cuba and explore the experiences of a young man, Leaving Little Havana is the first refugee memoir to focus on a Cuban girl growing up in America, rising above the obstacles and clearing a path to her American Dream. “Leaving Little Havana is the compelling story of a Cuban girl seeking a new life in the U.S. with her family as the Cuban revolution unfolds in the early sixties. 'Cecilita’s' personal account, and sexual awakening, is transparent, sad, and triumphant, sprinkled with anecdotes of an emerging Cuban-American landscape. In short, this book is a colorful reminiscence of historical scenes on both sides of the Straits of Florida, providing closure to a Cuban American journalist coming to terms with her turbulent past.” - Guarione M. Diaz, President Emeritus, Cuban American National Council “Cecilia Fernandez’s memoir of growing up Cuban in Miami is not only fascinating reading, it tells more about the story of Cubans in this U.S. than a truckload of sociology textbooks - and is a thousand times more entertaining!” - Dan Wakefield, author of New York in the Fifties “Leaving Little Havana is a candid, touching, and engaging memoir of a young Cuban exile’s coming of age. Cecilia Fernandez writes with passion and intensity, both of her missteps and her triumphs, casting fresh light on the American experience in the process.” - Les Standiford, author of Havana Run and Bringing Adam Home “Cecilia Fernandez gives us a coming of age story told with wide open eyes and vivid details of growing up in Little Havana. Broken-hearted more times than she can count, she gradually finds a path to new beginnings and the infinite promises of the American Dream. A poignant and important chronicle of the Miami Cuban immigrant journey.” - Ruth Behar, author of Traveling Heavy: A Memoir in Between Journeys “Every so often along comes a book that seizes you by the collar and arrests you on the spot. From page one, Leaving Little Havana is a brilliant, voice-driven book that will make your heart skip a few beats. My experience reading this book was similar to the first time I read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros when you instantly know you are reading a classic, a story so achingly beautiful and unforgettable you relish every last word as if it were the buzzing of a hummingbird at your lips feeding you honey. This book is about family, about what happens to family in exile, about how people come into a great world of struggle and manage to get by and survive. The author has a great gift for capturing that world-known enclave of Miami we love and call Little Havana. This might be the book that puts it on the literary map for good and forever.” - Virgil Suárez, author of Latin Jazz, The Cutter, and 90 Miles: Selected and New Poems
Libros Arco uses the same full-color illustrations that made Arch Books famous and tells important Bible stories. Libros Arco is not a translation; every rhyming story was originally written in Spanish!
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed in the one true God despite the command from their king to worship a false idol. God rescued these three men from the fiery furnace, and He rescues His children today from their sins.First published in 1964, Arch Books captivate children with colorful pictures and creative poems. Each books presents a complete Bible story in a fun-to-read way that children ages 5-9 will understand and remember. Know for their biblical and historical accuracy, Arch Books are accessible, engaging, affordable and collectible-perfect for assisting teachers and parents as they teach children the Bible and how God works in all aspects of life.Also available in English.
In Cuba, the way to fight against the dictatorship in the cities was to go underground. all activities were done in secret, and the participants used "nom de guerre," so that the government would not discover them, because the price would be prison or death by firing squad. Everything was done in secret in order to overthrow, or at least throw obstacles in the way of the regime. Cecilia interviewed thirty fighters of the Student Revolutionary Directorate (DRE) from that stage of the struggle against Fidel Castro, which lasted from the end of 1960 to the end of 1962. Of those interviewed, 12 suffered imprisonment in Cuba with sentences ranging from 10 to 30 years. From the almost 500 pages of testimonies, Cecilia reconstructed the story of those two years. Many others are missing, and many have died, but the historic achievement of this all-student organization is admirable. Cecilia wrote everything down and wanted it to be published verbatim, without omitting any word. That is what appears in these pages.
Philip meets the Ethiopian and shares the Good News of Jesus and brings the man to Christ in baptism.First published in 1964, Arch Books captivate children with colorful pictures and creative poems. Each book presents a complete Bible story in a fun-to-read way that children ages 5-9 will understand and remember. Known for their biblical and historical accuracy, Arch Books are accessible, engaging, affordable, and collectible-perfect for assisting teachers and parents as they teach children the Bible and how God works in all aspects of life.Also available in individual English and Bilingual editions.
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