Casa Dividida

by Chris Mecer

Appropriate for level 3 and 4 Spanish classes, José, the son of one of Cuba’s wealthiest tobacco tycoons, and Luisa, a peasant sugar cane cutter, see their country turned upside-down by the Cuban Revolution. They are then faced with a choice. Stay and defend the Revolution? Or flee and fight for its end?

Based on true events, this novel chips away at political propaganda with a gripping tale of battlefield heroism, international espionage, economic collapse, and human compassion. You will be left wondering who the true rebels are and what it will take to reunite a house divided.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Spanish Literature, Historical, Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Noemi Jalbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! I assigned Casa Dividida to my Spanish 4 Honors students and they loved it. We read out loud and discussed the history of Cuba and they learned so much. I also contacted the author, Chris Mercer to invite him to a Zoom meeting with my class and he accepted. He gave us an amazing presentation and background on how he came to write the book and meeting José. He brought the story to life and gave us a wealth of information. This is definitely a book to read with Spanish classes looking to enhance their students’ learning and reading skills. My students were so impressed by the real life characters in the book and their stories. I highly recommend Casa Dividida.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in my Spanish class a while ago and just remembered to log it! It was actually really enjoyable, and I could understand it even though it was in Spanish! I loved the characters and learning more about the history of Cuba, and the ending was really interesting! I have no idea when I started and finished reading it.

[priya · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5***

I had to read this for my Spanish 3 class and that's all I'm going to say, but what can I from a 3rd grade level book?

[Dasha Shevchenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Había muchos eventos, muchas personajes, y muchas lugares en este libro. Pero todo está bien en la última capítula cuando Luisa y José se conocieron por fin. Fue un libro bueno y el final libro de mis clases de español en el colegio.

[Arden Leiker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for helping your Spanish comprehension and to learn some of the history of Cuba! It was given to me as a summer assignment for my Spanish 4 class and I read it pretty easily.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casa Dividida, por Chris Mercer, es un libro de la Revolución Cubana, con los efectos después de la guerra.

En la Revolución Cubana, los revolucionarios querían derrocar Batista. Batista cambió el gobierno de una democracia a un gobierno comunista en 1952, porque él quería poder, y la gente no le gusta este. Castro fue el líder de los revolucionarios, y ellos luchaban por cinco años. En el fin, Castro y los revolucionarios ganaron. Cuba se convirtió a un país de mucho comunismo.

Casa Dividida sigue dos personas, una niña, Luisa, y un niño, José. Luisa es una campesina. Su familia dormía en uno cuarto y ella cortaba caña de azúcar. En el principio del libro, la hermana de Luisa murió. En el hospital, el autor describe la situación: “Lolite era muy flaca. Sólo tenía tres años y parecía que no iba a cumplir cuatro” (10). Mientras todo, José es un niño más viejo que Luisa. Él es de una familia rica. Luisa y su familia quieren la revolución, por contrasto José y su familia, que quieren Batista en poder. La revolución afectó las dos personas. Por la guerra, Luisa puede ir a escuela médica, y la casa de la familia de José cambió en seis apartamentos.

Recomiendo que los estudiantes en español 5 lea este libro. Casa Dividida es un nivel perfecto por yo, y el argumento es interesante. Pienso que el fin sea demasiado rápido. La cuenta de Luisa y la cuenta de José se encuentran solamente en los últimos capítulos. Yo creía que ellos se fueran a enamorar, pero no hicieron. Los personajes eran así así. No eran muy interesantes con mucho personalidad, pero ellos no eran malos. Yo creo que el autor haga un trabajo bueno en haciendo un libro sobre de la Revolución Cubana por los estudiantes de Español.

[Summertime Readaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this non-fiction read for my HS Spanish class library. I teach only level and 2 students but reading levels vary greatly so my classroom library spans 4 levels of readers plus regular native speaker books. I really enjoyed this reader especially to look at Cuban politics from two perspectives within the country. It really kept me wanting to read more. Seeing the "revolution" from the side of a rich kid whose family sent him to the US to avoid the changes and a poor campesino girl who eventually goes on to achieve lots of great things because of the changes makes for a every eye opening read that is accessible to 9-12 grade readers who do not have much knowledge of Cuba or the politics there. I will be adding more to my class library

[Liv Hergott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with my classmates from my Honors Spanish IV class. I really loved it and it was very educational. I also appreciate that the author, Chris Mercer, was able to come to our class to discuss the book. I learned so much from the book and from the author about the Cuban Revolution. I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to read this book and meeting the author in class. I definitely recommend this book for all ages because it is very educational on how the lives of the people of Cuba were affected by the revolution.

[Dianna Karwoski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am in a Honors Spanish 4 class, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. This story like was so captivating and it was easy enough to understand, but included enough switches between tenses and unfamiliar terms that I was challenged. After reading this book, I realized how much easier it was for me to write in Spanish, it came much more naturally to me. 10/10 recommend if you want to improve your Spanish.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great! I read this book for my Spanish class and it was very entertaining. It was very interesting to follow the character’s stories and learn about the Revolution. Not only was it a good way to learn about the effects of the Revolution on Cuba, but it also helped me to improve my Spanish. I also appreciate the author coming to speak to our class about the novel. It was very interesting to learn even more about the book from his perspective.

[Kerissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book!! i loved reading it, it was very educational but also very interesting to read. i would recommend reading it if you are learning Spanish at a higher level.

[Madelyn Santos · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't the worst? We read it in my Spanish 3 class. At first i really liked it, gave us a change of pace from what we were doing in class. Taught us how to be more independent with out work, which I very much liked. As you would guess, the book wasn't as elaborate as I thought it would be, but thats good because then I could actually understand it and pick out words to try and better understand the text i was reading. the pictures on every other page definitely helped me out on understanding what i was reading as well. I liked how we only really had to focus on two characters, and you could tell who was who in the story. The chapter about the invisible ink in the letter Martin wrote for Jose was super cool though.

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great way to help me and my Honors Spanish IV class to practice our Spanish and to learn about the history of Cuba. Also, the plot was very interesting and it portrayed real characters and events in the story. I highly recommend this book for Spanish classes and for those who are interested in Cuban history.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great! I read it for my Spanish 4 class, and along with reading it we were able to have discussions about the history of the Cuban Revolution. There was also a glossary in the back with translations of words so it made it easier to understand when I got stuck. I recommend this book to read to enhance your Spanish!

[The Mad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend the book since it gives a good perspective of lives before and after the Cuban Revolution. It was also much more different than other Spanish books I have read with an interesting story and some nice visuals. Chris came into our Zoom class to answer questions about the book, even though he seemed busy at the time. 10/10 would recommend

[Carina Fiscella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely recommend this book. My Honors Spanish 4 teacher assigned this book to my class. It explains how a divided class can work through the challenges that the government throws at them. It brings to life the reality of the revolution and the struggles that both the rich and poor had to go through. I truly enjoyed this book and it opened my eyes to two different divided worlds. Read it!!!!

[Devin M]

We read this book in my Spanish class and it was one of my favorite books we have read. This book taught us so much and was very interesting. We all were very pleased with the book and happy our teacher chose this one!

[Gilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Ethan Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buena historia. Muchas cosas historicas incluidas. Bonito fin!!

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casa Dividida was a great book! It was very educational and I learned a lot about the history of Cuba. This book was great for practicing reading comprehension in Spanish. Very highly recommended.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, I also admired the author because he came to my class on a zoom call to talk to us about the book!

[Katie Dar. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yo recomiendo este libro porque es muy cautivador, emocional, y educativo. Este libro es perfecto para aprender sobre la historia de Cuba a través de experiencias de la vida real.

[Manuela Gonzalez-bueno · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book, as all the TPRS books, is not an authentic text. It was written exclusively to teach Spanish. It also offered an inaccurate and biased story of Cuba.

[Lemoona · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sad, and so eye-opening. My heart hearts for the division among people after the Cuban revolution.

[Liz Meyer]

the parts I understood were good... really interesting love stories but there were so many