My Brigadista Year

In an engrossing historical novel, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Bridge to Terebithia follows a young Cuban teenager as she travels into the impoverished Cuban countryside to teach others how to read.

When thirteen-year-old Lora tells her parents that she wants to join Premier Castro’s army of young literacy teachers, her mother screeches to high heaven, and her father roars like a lion. Lora has barely been outside of Havana – why would she throw away her life in a remote shack with no electricity, sleeping on a hammock in somebody’s kitchen? But Lora is stubborn: didn’t her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Shining light on a little-known moment in history, Katherine Paterson traces a young teen’s coming-of-age journey from a sheltered life to a singular mission: teaching fellow Cubans of all ages to read and write. Inspired by true accounts, the novel includes an author’s note and a timeline of Cuban history.

Intr-un roman istoric captivant, autorul castigator al Medaliei Newbery de la Bridge to Terebithia urmareste un tanar adolescent cubanez in timp ce calatoreste in tara saraca cubaneza pentru a-i invata pe ceilalti sa citeasca. Cand Lora, in varsta de treisprezece ani, le spune parintilor ca vrea alatura-te armatei de tineri profesori de alfabetizare a premierului Castro, mama ei tipa in ceruri inalte, iar tatal ei racneste ca un leu.