Literacy Map Cuba

By: Amanda Enriquez and Yanelys Abreu

In-Depth analysis of Characterization: Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa

In-depth analysisof Characterization: Flight to Freedom

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Favorite book: Flight to Freedom By: Ana Veciana-Suarez

Annotated Bibliography: Discovering Cultures: Cuba

Gordon, S. (2003). Discovering Cultures: Cuba. New York: Benchmark Books.

Grade levels: 2-6Discovering Cultures: Cuba is an informational book about Cuba.

In this book readers will learn about different aspects of the Cuban culture. For example, the books explains what it is like living in Cuba and what school life is like there. The book also explains what people in Cuba do for fun, for example, playing baseball, which is the most popular sport in Cuba. Boxing is also popular, and going to the beaches or playing dominoes. It also tells about how music is the heart of the Cuban culture. This is great book to learn about the Cuban culture and even teaches readers how to count in Spanish and some of the Spanish vocabulary.

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Annotated Bibliography:Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa

Chambers, V. & Maren, J. (2005). Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa. New York: Penguin Young Readers.

Grade levels: 2-4Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa is a biography about the Cuban salsa singer,

Celia Cruz. It tells about her life growing up in Havana, Cuba, and how she loved to sing all around town. Crowds used to gather around her home at night to listen to her beautiful voice while she sang lullabies to her brothers and sisters to put them to sleep. It tells about the music that she loved which was blended traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms with the flavor and folklore of the tropics. It also tells about her struggles with deciding to pursue singing or become a school teacher like her father wanted. She eventually did move to Hollywood and became famous for bringing salsa music to every corner of the earth. She recorded over twenty gold albums and is known around the world as the Queen of Salsa.

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Annotated Bibliography: Flight to Freedom

Veciana –Suarez, A. (2002). Flight to Freedom. Orchard Books.

Grade levels: 5-6This is a first person fiction book which depicts immigrant life.

This book portrays the fictional life of Yara who emigrates with her family from Havana to Miami in 1967 as a result of the oppressive leadership of Fidel Castro. This is a touching inspirational story of Yara’s struggle to adapt to life in a new country. Yara knows very little English and she finds that the other students in her new school have much more freedom than she

and her sisters. Later tension starts developing with her own parents because they are becoming more independent.

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Annotated Bibliography: Children of Flight Pedro

PanArmengol Acierno, M. (1994). Children of Flight Pedro Pan. Silver

Moon Press.

Grade levels: 3-5This is a historical fiction novel that is part of the Stories of

the State series. This book takes us back to 1961 in Cuba. Ten year old Maria Aleman and her younger brother Jose have been put on a plane by their parents . They have decided to send the children to Miami to get them away from Fidel Castro. Maria and Jose have no idea what to expect in the new country and they are going all alone without their parents and very few belongings. This book shows the positive and negative aspects of immigrating to and coping with a new country, different culture, and language are adequately covered.

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Annotated Bibliography: Country Insights Cuba: City

and Village LifeMorrison, M. (1998). Country Insights Cuba: City and

Village Life. Raintree Steck-Vaughn.

Grade levels: 3-5 This is an informational book on Cuba. It

describes the land ,climate, home life, work life, school, plants, animals, history, economy , language and the future. It also looks closely

at the city of Havana and the Village of Republica de Chile. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean region.

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In-depth analysis of Characterization: Celia Cruz,

Queen of Salsa Veronica Chambers, the author of Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, uses

different techniques to develop the characteristics of Celia Cruz. The author reveals Celia’s beautiful voice through simile. “She looked like a girl and talked like a girl, but everyone who ever met her agreed, she sang like a bird.” (p. 1) She also shows her passion for singing because she sang wherever she went. “Celia’s job was to sing lullabies to put her younger brothers and sisters to sleep.” (p. 4) “In high school, she began singing in school shows and local clubs. (p. 9) Celia’s character is shown growing up, from living in a poor section of town as a little girl, to attending high school and college, to then pursuing her dreams and eventually bringing salsa music to ever corner of the earth.

Her determination to pursue singing is shown through her perseverance to continue singing “Still, she jumped at every opportunity: talent contests a the national theater and amateur nights on the radio.” (p. 14) The author also explains how she still continued to go to school like her father asked her to. She studied piano, voice, and musical theory in Cuba’s National Music Conservatory.

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In-depth analysis (cont.)Celia’s love for singing and actions of not giving up are shown when she

first gets her big break and she joins the most popular band of that time called La Sonora Matancera. But the public was outraged and Celia begins to wonder whether she should really be doing this. Then she asks herself, “Why do I sing? Is it for fame and fortune and for fans that do not exist? (p. 16) “No, she told herself. I sing for my parents, the ancestors, and the saints. I sing because when I lift my voice up high, I feel like the first pajaro of the day, whistling buenos dias to anyone who will listen.” (p. 18)

The author continues to show characterization by explaining how Celia’s performance trademark was shouting “Azucar!” which is the Spanish word for sugar, which is the one word that many say perfectly described her voice. The author characterizes Celia as the bird girl, who grew into a princess and the princess became a beloved queen. “She went on to record over twenty gold albums and is known the world over as the Queen of Salsa.” (p. 26) The author uses determination and love of singing as Celia’s main focus of her character.

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In-depth analysis of Characterization: Flight of

Freedom The main character in this book is Yara Garcia and she is the

middle child. She was named after the Grito de Yara which is the day in which the Cubans made a proclamation of independence from Spain. She is thirteen years old and her birthday is on May 10th. She has two sisters Ana Maria and Ileana and one brother named Pepito. Throughout this book Yara struggles with the difficulty of a new school, language, and friends and the tension that forms between her parents. She lived a middle class life in Cuba and is now forced to leave to Miami because of Fidel Castro. She knows very little English and feels like her parents are very strict compared to her friends in school. Yara is a very interesting person. When she first came to America, it was a whole new life she had to get used to. Yara worked hard to learn English and to fit in with the rest of the students at her high school. Yara is brave and very smart and experienced a lot of hard things throughout her adolescence that not most children have to encounter.

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Quote: Flight to Freedom

“ A few days in this place, and already I sense I am becoming an ant, tiny and insignificant, one of many. So tonight, to keep my mind off my ant worker life, I have given myself one goal: I will not cry. No, no, I will not. This is what I have promised myself. God and Virgencita, Our Lady of Charity, please, please help me.”

-Flight to Freedom

By: Ana Veciana-Suarez Back to Map

Favorite Book: Fight to Freedom

Author: Ana Veciana-Suarez

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