Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy (Thorndike Press Large Print Core) - Hardcover

Eire, Carlos

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9781410434951: Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy (Thorndike Press Large Print Core)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410434958 ISBN 13: 9781410434951

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2011

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Carlos Eire's story of a boyhood uprooted by the Cuban Revolution quickly lures us in, as eleven-year-old Carlos and his older brother Tony touch down in the sun-dappled Miami of 1962-a place of daunting abundance where his old Cuban self must die to make way for a new, American self waiting to be born. In this enchanting new work, narrated in Eire's inimitable and lyrical voice, young Carlos adjusts to life in his new country. He lives for a time in a Dickensian foster home, struggles to learn English, attends American schools, and confronts the age-old immigrant's plight: surrounded by the bounty of this rich land yet unable to partake. Carlos must learn to balance the divide between his past and present lives and find his way in this strange new world of gas stations, vending machines, and sprinkler systems. Every bit as poignant, bittersweet, and humorous as his first memoir, Learning to Die in Miami is a moving personal saga, an elegy for a lost childhood and a vanished country, and a celebration of the spirit of renewal that America represents.

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About the Author:

Born in Havana in 1950, Carlos Eire left his homeland in 1962, one of fourteen thousand unaccompanied children airlifted out of Cuba by Operation Pedro Pan. He is now the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University.

From AudioFile:

Gifted narrator Robert Fass exploits all the ironic humor and sadness of two young Cuban brothers who are adjusting to their new country, new language, and new school--without their parents. In an airlift few remember, Carlos and Tony arrived in Miami as refugees from the increasingly oppressive Castro government of the early 1960s. The younger brother records his painful memories of racial bullying, mayonnaise sandwiches, and huge rats. As they become bilingual, the boys' raw thoughts in their native language act as hilarious dramatic asides. Fass's sandy, taciturn voice makes addictive a story that everyone who was once a child will appreciate. He has total control of the three languages spoken: English (mostly), Mexican Spanish, and Cuban Spanish. He even sings "O Tannenbaum" in Austrian German. J.A.H. � AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

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