Call number
JF PAT
Collection
Genres
Publication
Candlewick (2017), 160 pages
Description
When thirteen-year-old Lora 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. Lora 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 Lora is stubborn: didn't her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Surprisingly, Lora's abuela takes her side, even as she makes Lora promise to come home if things get too hard. But how will Lora 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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member MaowangVater
In 1961 thirteen-year-old Lora Díaz Llera decides to volunteer to be a literacy teacher, leave her home in Havana, and venture into the countryside, as part of corps that plans to make good on Premier Castro’s promise to make Cuba completely literate in one year. Her parents are not pleased, but
Paterson’s accessible and polished prose realistically tells the story of a girl’s joys, difficulties and fears during this remarkably successful campaign. Paterson has never shied away from life’s disappointment and pains in her fiction, and she doesn’t in this book, nevertheless, it’s an inspiring story of educational triumph.
Show More
reluctantly they agree. She goes off to teacher training camp, and ventures into the mountains to teach the campesinos reading and writing, wearing the uniform of the Conrado Benítez Brigade, armed only with her teachers manual, Alfabeticemos, Let’s be Literate, and a textbook for her students, Venceremos, We Shall Overcome. Paterson’s accessible and polished prose realistically tells the story of a girl’s joys, difficulties and fears during this remarkably successful campaign. Paterson has never shied away from life’s disappointment and pains in her fiction, and she doesn’t in this book, nevertheless, it’s an inspiring story of educational triumph.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MaowangVater
In 1961 thirteen-year-old Lora Díaz Llera decides to volunteer to be a literacy teacher, leave her home in Havana, and venture into the countryside, as part of corps that plans to make good on Premier Castro’s promise to make Cuba completely literate in one year. Her parents are not pleased, but
Paterson’s accessible and polished prose realistically tells the story of a girl’s joys, difficulties and fears during this remarkably successful campaign. Paterson has never shied away from life’s disappointment and pains in her fiction, and she doesn’t in this book, nevertheless, it’s an inspiring story of educational triumph.
Show More
reluctantly they agree. She goes off to teacher training camp, and ventures into the mountains to teach the campesinos reading and writing, wearing the uniform of the Conrado Benítez Brigade, armed only with her teachers manual, Alfabeticemos, Let’s be Literate, and a textbook for her students, Venceremos, We Shall Overcome. Paterson’s accessible and polished prose realistically tells the story of a girl’s joys, difficulties and fears during this remarkably successful campaign. Paterson has never shied away from life’s disappointment and pains in her fiction, and she doesn’t in this book, nevertheless, it’s an inspiring story of educational triumph.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kyurenka
Nora, 13 years-old, joins Castro's Army of literacy teachers where she will live without electricity in a shack but Nora is determined to teach people in remote areas how to read and write. There are many challenges and also many dangers. A unique setting, a unique project, with believable
Show More
characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member RefPenny
Thirteen-year-old Lora wants to volunteer as a literacy tutor in Fidel Castro's Cuba but her parents aren't keen. With the help of her grandmother, she finally persuades them and, after a period of training, she is sent to a small village to teach the occupants to read and write. Over the course of
This story is set in a time and place I knew nothing about so it was a revelation to read about the world's most ambitious and organized literacy campaign. Castro had many faults but his plan did raise Cuban literacy from 76% to 96% in the space of a year. Katherine Paterson has obviously done her research but this book is first and foremost an engaging story of a young girl who leaves her family and comfortable home to do a difficult and sometime dangerous job.
Show More
a year, Lora forms strong bonds with the villagers and with her follow Brigadistas in neighbouring villages. Despite sometimes being scared, Lora doesn't return home till her job is finished.This story is set in a time and place I knew nothing about so it was a revelation to read about the world's most ambitious and organized literacy campaign. Castro had many faults but his plan did raise Cuban literacy from 76% to 96% in the space of a year. Katherine Paterson has obviously done her research but this book is first and foremost an engaging story of a young girl who leaves her family and comfortable home to do a difficult and sometime dangerous job.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LorisBook
This is coming-of-age journey for a young Cuban teenager who volunteers for Fidel Castro’s national literacy campaign.
The setting is disturbing for anyone but especially for this young girl. Her parent's are not happy about her decision as it's during a time of political unrest. A young literacy
During midyear of the campaign the school's were closed when reports came out stating that the campign was behind and more teachers were need to join the campaign.
This read started off as a work of nonfiction and evolved into a novel. The historical notations throughout make it an interesting read.
I reviewed for Net Galley.
The setting is disturbing for anyone but especially for this young girl. Her parent's are not happy about her decision as it's during a time of political unrest. A young literacy
Show More
worker has already been killed by guerrillas and counterrevolutionaries are hiding in nearby fields. Her abuela sides with her reminding her parent's it's a new day. And, she will be teaching other Cuban's to read and write.During midyear of the campaign the school's were closed when reports came out stating that the campign was behind and more teachers were need to join the campaign.
This read started off as a work of nonfiction and evolved into a novel. The historical notations throughout make it an interesting read.
I reviewed for Net Galley.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lindamamak
Based on a true historical event that happened in Cuba in the 1960's, when Castro sent out volunteers to all regions of his country to teach literacy to people that did not have the ability to read.
LibraryThing member empress8411
One of the best books I’ve read this year! Lora, only 13, volunteers for Fidel Castro’s Literacy Program. After learning how to teach, she is sent with an army of other young people into the countryside, to teach the poor how to read. It is full of danger and challenge.
First, having the story
I highly recommend for anyone, ages 8-9 and above. There is some talk of death and fear, and one character does die. While not graphic (or even on-screen) it has an effect on the characters. The realities of what these kids did and what Cuba was like at the time is not washed-over, but told in simply language. History is not always pretty but worth reading and Patterson has given us a book worth reading.
First, having the story
Show More
told in First-Person gives us real insight into the character growth and courage of Lora. Second, the research of the history of Cuba is impeccable. Seeing America through the eyes of Cubs Under Castro was enlightening and made me think about our country in a different (but good) way. Americans can get a bit myopic when it comes to our place in the world and this book helps open the viewpoint in a good way.I highly recommend for anyone, ages 8-9 and above. There is some talk of death and fear, and one character does die. While not graphic (or even on-screen) it has an effect on the characters. The realities of what these kids did and what Cuba was like at the time is not washed-over, but told in simply language. History is not always pretty but worth reading and Patterson has given us a book worth reading.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Lora is a sheltered 13 year old in Havana when Fidel Castro puts out a call for volunteers to teach the entire country to read in 1961. She manages to convince her reluctant parents to allow her to join the Conrado Benitez Brigade and become a Brigadista for a year, living and working in the
Totally engrossing, quick read (180 pages). Completely from an excited and literary-focused girl's perspective, so the later aspects of the Castro regime that many people fled from are not present in this book at all unless you read the very interesting timeline and author's note at the back. It really is a fascinating project, astonishing that they managed to pull it off, and an incredibly empowering example for kids. Gun violence, murder, propaganda and politics are all intrinsic to the story, but so is the idea of teaching through respect, and of learning on both sides (teachers, students). While Paterson is not drawing on personal memories, she researched thoroughly and talks extensively about that in her author's note. 1961 attitudes about skin color and gender are present throughout the book as well. Gives me a new respect for a country that values education and poetry so highly, and I learned an enormous amount about the complexities of Cuban politics.
Show More
countryside with peasant families and teaching them to read in the evenings. This assignment is dangerous, as there are still rebel forces in the hills, who vow to attack and murder as many Brigadistas as possible, in a strike against Castro's new regime. Totally engrossing, quick read (180 pages). Completely from an excited and literary-focused girl's perspective, so the later aspects of the Castro regime that many people fled from are not present in this book at all unless you read the very interesting timeline and author's note at the back. It really is a fascinating project, astonishing that they managed to pull it off, and an incredibly empowering example for kids. Gun violence, murder, propaganda and politics are all intrinsic to the story, but so is the idea of teaching through respect, and of learning on both sides (teachers, students). While Paterson is not drawing on personal memories, she researched thoroughly and talks extensively about that in her author's note. 1961 attitudes about skin color and gender are present throughout the book as well. Gives me a new respect for a country that values education and poetry so highly, and I learned an enormous amount about the complexities of Cuban politics.
Show Less
LibraryThing member riofriotex
I requested My Brigadista Year, by two-time Newbery-medalist Katherine Paterson, from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program back in September 2017, but never received it from the publisher. I was able to check out the book recently from my library's e-book collection.
This was a fascinating
Told in first person in Lora's voice, Paterson's novel gives some background on Lora's family and early life, then follows her from her departure from Havana in March 1961, to the Veradero training camp where she learns how to teach, and on ito the Escambray Mountains where she meets her squad at base camp and gets her assignment. (There's a helpful map at the beginning of the book).
Lora lives with the family she's teaching, helping them with daily tasks such as drawing water from the river, and plowing fields. There's time to socialize with the family and another nearby, as well as the other brigadistas every Sunday at the base camp. The book also details some of the techniques used to teach and test reading and writing skills. I especially liked the test that had the students write a letter to Fidel Castro. Lora has until the end of the program, on December 22, to achieve success with her seven students, six adults and one child.
Paterson provides additional historical background and discusses the sources she used in an author's note at the end of the book. She also includes a timeline of Cuban history through early 2017. Written at a fifth-grade reading level, and aimed at middle grades (4th or 5th to 8th or 9th), this is an inspiring book about a youth-centered project, with the important message for all ages that teachers often learn as much from their students as the students do from their teachers.
This was a fascinating
Show More
historical novel for young people about the Cuban literacy campaign of 1961. Thirteen-year-old Havana resident Lora volunteers to become a brigadista, a member of the brigade of young people recruited to teach the illiterate in rural areas how to read and write. Her not-wealthy family is not enthusiastic about her participation, but were somewhat mollified with the news that Lora would have free secondary and university education if she finished her year of service.Told in first person in Lora's voice, Paterson's novel gives some background on Lora's family and early life, then follows her from her departure from Havana in March 1961, to the Veradero training camp where she learns how to teach, and on ito the Escambray Mountains where she meets her squad at base camp and gets her assignment. (There's a helpful map at the beginning of the book).
Lora lives with the family she's teaching, helping them with daily tasks such as drawing water from the river, and plowing fields. There's time to socialize with the family and another nearby, as well as the other brigadistas every Sunday at the base camp. The book also details some of the techniques used to teach and test reading and writing skills. I especially liked the test that had the students write a letter to Fidel Castro. Lora has until the end of the program, on December 22, to achieve success with her seven students, six adults and one child.
Paterson provides additional historical background and discusses the sources she used in an author's note at the end of the book. She also includes a timeline of Cuban history through early 2017. Written at a fifth-grade reading level, and aimed at middle grades (4th or 5th to 8th or 9th), this is an inspiring book about a youth-centered project, with the important message for all ages that teachers often learn as much from their students as the students do from their teachers.
Show Less
Awards
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — Grades 6-8 — 2020)
Young Quills Award for Historical Fiction (Shortlist — 2019)
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Book (Junior — 2018)
Pages
160
ISBN
0763695084 / 9780763695088