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Title: My Brigadista Year

Author: Katherine Paterson

Narrator: Frankie Corzo

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-10-17

Publisher: Candlewick on Brilliance Audio

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In an engrossing historical novel, the Newbery Medal - winning author of Bridge to Terabithia follows a young Cuban teenager as she volunteers for Fidel Castro's national literacy campaign and travels into the impoverished countryside to teach others how to read.

When thirteen-year-old Nora 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. Nora 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 Nora is stubborn: didn't her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Surprisingly, Nora's abuela takes her side, even as she makes Nora promise to come home if things get too hard. But how will Nora know for sure when that time has come? 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 while helping with the work of their daily lives and sharing the dangers posed by counterrevolutionaries hiding in the hills nearby. Inspired by true accounts, the novel includes an author's note and a time line of Cuban history.

Members Reviews:

Katherine Paterson at her best!

I enjoyed every page. It was nformative and inspirational. This would be a great present for any girl or boy over the age of ten.

I loved this book

Wow! I loved this book!

Historical fiction and coming of age story

Thanks to the @kidlitexchange network for the free review copy of his book â all opinions are my own.

Lora is a thirteen year old girl inspired by the posters put up at her school that called for young men and women to join an army of teachers. She has never been outside of Havana and her family doesnât want her to participate, but she is determined.

The earliest chapters of this book try to give the background of post-revolutionary Cuba which is necessary since many middle grade readers know little to nothing of Cuban history. These chapters have a completely different tone from the later chapters which are written in memoir style and are much more accessible. Once Lora begins her journey into the mountains to teach people to read, the tone shifts completely.

This is not only a historical fiction book, but it is a coming of age story and a tale of how we need to open ourselves to experiences of learning on all fronts. One of the points that the book was making is that many of the brigadistas, like Lora, were from privileged families in Havana that had never been outside the city and had no concept of rural life. Not only were they expected to teach grown-ups and children to read, they were expected to work on the farms of the people they were living with as a trade for their hospitality. They met with resistance and had to find ways to soldier on anyway.

As this book progressed, I found myself more and more amazed by the story and the fact that it was based on true events. When we come together to help our neighbors and countrymen, we can accomplish miraculous things.