Hello everyone, this first post for February features an extremely courageous young girl and describes a summer from her young life. One of the reasons I selected this title is because it’s based on a sequence of events that actually happened to the author. You could say it is semi-autobiographical in that sense. If you enjoy inspirational stories of families making their way in another country, you should start with this one.
Title: Lucky Broken Girl
Author: Ruth Behar
Genre: Fiction – historical
Publication details: Nancy Paulsen Books; NY, 2017
ISBN: 9780399546440
What this book is about: Ruth Mizrahi hasn’t lived in America for a long time; but it’s finally starting to feel like home. In the months since she arrived from Cuba, she’s begun mastering English, has her first pair of go-go boots, and is her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen. Then one night everything changes when Ruthie’s in a car accident. She has no choice but lie in bed in a body cast for months! At first Ruthie feels like a baby in diapers again. But then some surprising things happen. All kinds of interesting people walk through her door, bringing stories and gifts that help make her feel less alone and afraid. Full of colour and light, humour and hope, Ruth Behar’s debut celebrates our beautifully diverse world and shows how friends, neighbors, books, and art can sweeten even the worst days.
My review: What a gorgeous story!! It had me captivated at each and every word!! A bit like good poetry! I like how this is semi-autobiographical and loosely based on the author’s own experience as a child after an accident. The description of the 60’s when this is set is also lovely and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened to Ruth. Behar has created an enchanting character in Ruth and I felt quite saddened when I finished this read. I’m exceptionally glad that I live in a time when diverse stories like these are abundant and I get a chance to learn of other cultures. It’s through stories like these that I see not differences, but the similarities between us all. Ruth’s family’s fear and hopes I find are not too dissimilar to those that my family faced moving to another country all those years ago. A great read!!
My rating: 5 ⭐
Additional notes: This title has won the Pura Belpre Author Award for 2018.
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 