Customer Reviews

Flight to Freedom

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3 star:		(1)
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Veciana-Suarez's book "Flight to Freedom" realistically explores the plight of an immigrant family from communist Cuba to the United States. This fictitious novel, although set in the past, is based on historical events, thus validating the experiences of those persons written about. These experiences and struggles are typical of immigrants moving into the US from foreign countries. In this book the reader is taken along side a Cuban girl named Yara, exploring together the ravaging effects of political persecution (which forces her family into exile), the unmerciful prejudice of Americans, the misunderstanding of cultural roles based on societal norms, and newfound freedoms never known before. This book raises compelling questions pertaining to the life of immigrants, and how events in history have formed their past and future.
Yara begins the journal of her life while living in Havana, Cuba. The author appeals to the reader by revealing this documentation in writing the book in journal style, starting it on April 2, 1967 continuing through July 4, 1968. At this time in history she explains that Castro controlled the Cuban people with an iron fist, requiring young boys to enroll in the military and young girls to do backbreaking work in the agricultural fields. As a result of such tyranny, many counterrevolutionary families, similar to Yara's, exiled themselves from this government, fleeing to the United States where revolts against Cuba were were being developed.

The reader, depending on their background, will find the conflicting culture shock startling or reminiscent. After moving to the United States, Yara's family was not prepared for a culture so different from their own. First of all, school settings are not usually pleasant for an immigrant, which was affirmed in Yara's experience. In American schools, if a student did not know English they were considered ignorant; they were discriminated against because of the clothes they wore and the customs they participated in. Another difference was liberal gender roles, allowing older women to drive cars, further their education, and work at jobs outside the home. American culture was peppered with President Johnson's administration, the Vietnam War, Aretha Franklin, and the death of Martin Luther King, all elements that compromised Cuban culture and ideals.
Adjustments to life in America lead to identity crises. Many immigrants, mostly those of the second generation, found themselves torn between two cultures, the one they lived at home and the other they experienced in the real world. Each required full dedication and total allegiance. Cuban culture desires to claim those born into it, with the vision of keeping the language and traditions. American culture takes the view that if foreigners invade the land, they should conform to popular culture. The immigrant desires to remain true to both, because experiences from either sides are forming their identity.
The reader will find that immigration is no easy thing to experience. This book informs its audience of the immigrant struggle through the eyes of a thirteen year old. Many scenes within the story line are believable and easily parallel fiction to realistic struggles. There are a few parts, however, that do not seem so plausible. One being that Yara learns the English language, reading and writing to the point of fluency, within three months of moving to the United States. Anyone that has taken a foreign language can attest to the difficulty of such a task, and it is doubtful that three months was a realistic time frame. Overall, the author will leave the reader enlightened after reading about lives of immigrants and will encourage them to think about issues immigrants face everyday.

Flight to Freedom is a moving story about a young Cuban immigrant who moves to the United States without knowing any English. Her family had left Cuba because of their unjust communist leader, Fidel Castro, and had not been able to come as a whole family because their older brother had been forced to join the Cuban army. In her diary, Yara records all her joys and woes and it ends up being a great book.

I think the book "Flight to Freedom" by Ana Veciana-Suarez is very interesting because the whole book is a diary of a Cuban girl who has to adapt to a new culture.

The book opens in Cuba with Yara, a 13-year-old girl, in a strict boarding school. She has to work so hard in the fields that she gets callouses on her hands. She is a Christian, but she is not allowed to have a Bible. When she comes home from the school to her family, she finds out that part of the family has to move to Miami because of Cuban President Fidel Castro. Her brother has to stay behind because he was forced to join the Cuban army. Yara is devastated because she has to leave her home and her friends to go a strange country that she has never been to before. She doesn't know if she can ever return to Cuba.

Once in Miami, Yara must learn how Americans live and she must learn their language too. She makes one friend in Miami and she's starting to learn how Americans dress. She gets to go to her friend's sleepover and she wants to go with her on a road trip during vacation.

Does Yara get to go? What happens in the end? Will Yara move back to Cuba? Try reading this book and find out what happens! This book is a real page turner. I also like this book because it is so descriptive and detailed.

One of my favorite parts of the book is a scene during math class at school in Miami. Yara tells the teacher how she learned to do subtraction a different way in Cuba. Her teacher shares the new method with the whole class, and this makes Yara feel accepted. But she still tries to do things the American way.

I would recommend "Flight to Freedom" for ages 10 and up because the book is complex and it has some Spanish phrases. Some kids might find this book confusing because Yara has a huge family and there are a lot of different characters in the book to keep up with. Sometimes I got lost and did not understand what the author was trying to say. But overall, the book made me curious about Cuba and I'm glad I read it! One thing I am still wondering about is exactly why Yara's family had to go to Miami. Maybe you can find out.

The book review of Flight to freedom
Hi my name is Alvin Wyatt. This book is about a Cuban family trying to get to America until there Cuban ruler is put in jail.


The theme is justice because Cuba has a ruler who treats them badly and they can not return until there ruler is token away.

In this story the characters all know each other. The characters are - Ileana, Carmen, Mami, Papi, Cynthia, Yara Garcia. Most people will not talk to them because they are moving to America.

They live in a very poor land and have a little house .they have to wait an hour for a bar of soap. some people get in fights waiting for supplies some people even die in line.


They are now living in America with some family members who moved there a while ago . will there Cuban ruler get put in jail. Will they return to Cuba. you will have to read it to find out.


I would recommend this book for nine and up.

This is a wonderful book about a girl named Yara Garcia who has to adjust to a new life when her and her family flee to Florida. She is faced with a new language, new costums, and new people. Can Yara and her family adjust to a new life?
I liked this book because what Yara and her family face are similar to some of the things teenagers today face. I can relate to making new friends , leaving some friends , and meeting new people. Also, because this book is in diary form, it is very enjoyable to read as if you really knew Yara.The adventures that Yara goes through are so interesting and nerve-racking that the ending of the book is so unpredictable. I also liked the book because having Yara live in Cuba , the book tells so many details and descriptions of Cuba and how Cuba's government is organized.
I would definately recommend this book. I would recommend it to mainly teenagers because they can usually relate to the problems that Yara goes through. Also people that are interested in the cultures, language, and government of Cuba should also read this book to find out what Fidel castro (Communist ruler) did to make Yara Garcia and her family flee to Florida. Also anyone that likes the Dear America series should really enjoy reading this book.
My favorite character is definately Yara Garcia because I can relate to her the most of any other character in this book. What Yara goes through are very similar to what any person of her age could go through. She originally lived in Cuba , had a great life, had a lot of friends, and was very happy. She then moves to Florida where she has to pretty much start a new life. She also keeps the journal so everything that goes on she tells from her point of view.
This is a good book in which a family flees their home and has a good and bad Flight To Freedom. Does Yara and her family arrive safely from Cuba? Can Yara adjust to a new life? Read Flight to Freedom to find out.

This book is about a girl who has to face many struggles. Not just herself, but her family as well. Her parents end up coming here to Miami. This is a very realistic book because it actually mentions places we have here in Miami. To me this is a must read book. You feel as if you were in Ana's place because the author explains how Ana feels when she arrives here and how she goes through to accomplish school goals.

i found this book to be slow in the beginning and early middle. while i enjoyed the history it was not one of my favorite books.

Another wonderful addition to Scholastic's superb First Person Fiction series, Flight to Freedom, tells the story of the Garcia family who in 1967 flee from Cuba to Miami, Florida. The story is told through the diary entries of thirteen-year-old Yara Garcia. In Cuba Yara hates the compulsory youth work camps and the strict food rations. However, once Yara is in Miami, she misses the family left behind in Cuba, and she struggles with family tensions, a new language, and a new school. While Yara's father joins an anti-Castro group and insists that the family will soon be back in Cuba, Yara, her mother, and her sisters slowly adjust to their new life and opportunities in America. The story is absorbing, with believable characters and informative detail. An effective feature of the series is an afterword in which the writer describes his or her own experiences of immigrating to the United States. The reading level and subject matter make this book appropriate for seventh through ninth grade and TESOL students. It would work well as reading for social studies and English in studies of culture, immigration, point of view, character development, and style.

I like this book because that wodrs the was said ana are tru and also i liked is because she has a cousen that go to the army and his family miss alot.And i have a cousen that he is in the navy and i miss him alot because hi is my favorite cousen and i have a year that i dont see him,i wish that i see him soon.Ana has the same time that i have,i like this book because i pass the same of ana,and also i'm wreting of this because i left his friends in cuba and i did the same thing bout i left them in mexico.