Literacy Map
Cuba
By: Amanda Enriquez and
Yanelys Abreu
In-depth analysis
of Characterization:
Flight to Freedom
Quote
In-Depth analysis of
Characterization:
Celia Cruz, Queen of
Salsa
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: 2-6
Discovering 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: 2-4
Celia 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: 5-6
This 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 Pan
Armengol Acierno, M. (1994). Children of Flight Pedro Pan. Silver
Moon Press.
Grade levels: 3-5
This 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 Life
Morrison, 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
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Favorite Book: Fight to
Freedom
Author: Ana Veciana-Suarez
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