The Red Umbrella (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Red Umbrella Maggie Hommel, Reviewer Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. The Red Umbrella. Knopf, 2010. [288p]. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96190-8 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86190-1 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-89628-6 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 5-8. Lucía is fourteen years old, and though she's growing up in Cuba amidst the 1961 communist revolution, she's more concerned with friends, boys, and her upcoming quince than what Fidel Castro is doing. Slowly, however, Lucía's life begins to change. Elections are suspended, school is cancelled, and her parents confine Lucía and her brother Frankie to their home. As many of Lucía's friends join the Jóvenes Rebeldes (Young Rebels) and prepare to disperse as brigadistas to promote literacy in the countryside, her father's dissent causes trouble at work and spurs an argument with his brother Antonio. When Lucía's family is reported for hiding jewelry and soldiers visit their home, Lucía's parents make the decision to send her and Frankie to a church home in the United States to escape worsening conditions. The family's story ends happily as all parties are eventually reunited, but each of their lives has been permanently changed nonetheless. Author Gonzalez based this story on her parents' personal history, and the text brings to life a period in which thousands [End Page 432] of Cuban children were clandestinely sent to the United States. While the story is clearly filtered through Gonzalez's perspective on the topic, she paints a compelling picture and creates memorable characters. The writing is gentle and fairly slow paced, sprinkled with Spanish phrases in context, and it provides enough day-to-day teen-life details to stay realistically youth focused. The pain of the revolution for those who disagreed is made clear and pressing, and the text manages to balance between being informative and entertaining. This could prove a helpful tie-in for classroom history lessons or a solid recommendation for fans of quietly engaging historical fiction. A concluding author's note discusses historical context. Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois