ISLAND TREASURES

Ada, an award-winning writer and multicultural and bilingual education expert, recounts childhood memories of growing up in Cuba in the 1940s.

Filled with heartwarming vignettes of her childhood in Camagüey, Cuba, Ada’s memories are also suffused with the importance of family and friends. There was the strong grandmother who brought up five children while principal of two schools and running a farm. And Samoné, the hardworking hired hand who became a part of the family. She recalls the night her father unwittingly started a local legend. She remembers the pleasure brought by the windy months of August and September, when she and her parents made and flew kites, and the grief brought by the loss of tío Medardito in a flying accident. Though the stories are evocative and at times powerful, the narration is mixed with adult commentary that might distance young readers. This volume is bookended by two previously published books, Where the Flame Trees Bloom (1994) and the Pura Belpré Award–winning Under the Royal Palms (1998). In addition, the middle of the book consists of new vignettes gathered under the title Days at La Quinta Simoni. There has been no attempt made to unite the three sections of the book, resulting in the repetition of some details. 

Readers new to Ada’s memoirs will be moved and inspired.