Travels in Cuba

Travels with My Family

by Marie-Louise Gay, David Homel

Even for an experienced traveler like Charlie, Cuba is a place unlike any he has visited before ― an island full of surprises, secrets and puzzling contradictions. When Charlie’s artist mother is invited to visit a school in Cuba, the whole family goes along on the trip. But the island they discover is a far cry from the all-inclusive resorts that Charlie has heard his friends talk about. Charlie has never visited a country as strange and puzzling as Cuba ― a country where he often feels like a time traveler. Where Havana’s grand Hotel Nacional sits next to buildings that seem to be crumbling before his very eyes. Where the streets are filled with empty storefronts and packs of wild dogs, but where flowers and sherbet-colored houses may lie around the next corner, and music is everywhere. Where there are many different kinds of walls ― from Havana’s famous sea wall to the invisible ones that seem aimed at keeping tourists and locals apart. Then the family heads “off the beaten track,” traveling by hot, dusty bus to Viñales, where Charlie makes friends with Lázaro, who often flies from Miami to visit his Cuban relatives. The boys ride a horse bareback, find a secret cache of rifles inside a little green mountain and go swimming with small albino fish in an underground cave. A rent-a-wreck takes the family into the countryside, where they find an abandoned hotel inhabited by goats, and a modern resort filled with tourists. And as he goes from one strange and marvelous escapade to another, Charlie finds that his expectations about a place and its people are overturned again and again. Key Text Features
illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

Genres: Travel, Middle Grade, Fiction, Family

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2021

About the author

Marie-Louise Gay is the illustrator of many award-winning children's books. She is from Montreal, Canada.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book, thinking it was a coffee-table book with glossy photos of ancient Chevrolets in Havana, the beach at Varadero, the mogotes in Viñales, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, the Nicho Waterfalls — that kind of thing. How glad I am that I was wrong!

The target audience for this book in which Canadian Charlie and his family visit Cuba is 9- to 14-year-olds. Ignore that: Readers of all ages will adore the black-and-white illustrations and the realistic portrayal of today’s Cuba. Neither a panegyric nor a right-wing screed, Travels in Cuba describes Cuba, warts and all, a country whose people struggle with a hide-bound regime, but keep their generous natures and eschew consumerism. Authors Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel also make a broader case for seeing the real country one visits rather than flocking to tourist meccas. Readers will also love Gay and Homel’s depiction of Charlie interacting with his pesky brother and rolling his eyes at his parents’ insistence of traveling the backroads.

But let’s grant Max the final word:

Cuba was a beautiful sunny island floating like a crocodile in the deep blue sea. It had banana trees and friendly horses and flowers a big as dinner plates.

But it had mor than that. It was a place full of stories and secrets and rules for breaking, and life here wasn’t as simple as where I lived [in Montreal].

Would we ever come back?

Well, why not?

And besides, part of me would always be here.

Part of this book will always be with me, as well. And not just because my parents were Cuban.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, House of Anansi Press and Groundwood Books.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book arc from the publisher. This is such a cute book. It would be wonderful for a read aloud in the classroom. A family goes to Cuba for vacation. Instead of staying at an all inclusive resort, this family stays with relatives and sees all the sights. They go to the beach and they also go to the small restaurants and are treated like famous people, even though they are a Cuban family that just lives in Canada. The children have fun, a real trip to Cuba and to see all of how people live in the the country. It was like going on vacation. I would recommend this book to any middle schooler.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is apparently part of a fictional series of travels as told by a 10 year old. Seeing the world through a 10 year olds eyes is rather cool, as it is unfiltered. And his view of Cuba is both sweet and informative. Good way to learn about other countries.

In fact, I looked up several cities and towns that he went to, just to see the things he described.

I would highly recommend this as a good source to introduce young readers to finding out about other coutnries.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Rajiv · Rating 4 out of 5]

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I didn’t know that “Travels in Cuba” was part of an ongoing series called “Travels with My Family,” but that did not stop me from appreciating the story.

I admire the concept of the series where younger readers get to know about a new country and have fun with the characters. It’s a fun novel that is part adventure and part education. The story would expose readers to how people live in Cuba and their various cultures and traditions.

The authors did a great job in highlighting some facts about Cuba. They mention prominent figures like Che Guevara, Yasiel Puig, and Fidel Castro and movements like the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Moreover, I did not even know about Mojotes in Vinales until I read this book. Reading the book prompted me to research some of the topics further. Even the supporting characters like Gloria and Lázaro were memorable. I particularly liked Charlie’s friendship with Lázaro and how knowledgeable he was. I enjoyed the scenes where Charlie meets the fortune-teller. The illustrations are also beautiful and appealing and complement the story very nicely.

Probably the only criticism I have towards the tale is how there is no overlaying plot. It would have been nice if there was a theme to the story that leads to a conclusion. Sometimes, it felt that the family was traveling from one place to another and exploring the cultures.

Apart from that, I enjoyed reading “Travels in Cuba” and recommend it to parents who want to pick up a lovely middle-grade book for their children to learn about Cuba and its traditions.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Groundwood Books and NetGalley for a chance to read Travels in Cuba by Marie-Louise, illustrated by David Homel.

First of all, I learned so much about Cuba from reading about Charlie, Max and their parents as they traveled in Cuba. Many of the social studies disciplines were touched on; economics, geography, history, government, and sociology. Gay describes the political limitations under which the Cubans live; many of the Cubans in the story discuss how there are many rules that must be followed and cannot be broken. Yet, the vitality of Cuban culture is beautifully captured in the text as well as the illustrations. I particularly loved a street scene in Havana where old men were playing dominoes on wooden tables with children playing nearby, and women were singing, gossiping, and hanging laundry. I could really picture the energy, motion, sound, and joy of the moment. It is clear that Gay and Homel actually made a trip to Cuba. There is an authenticity that rings throughout the story.

I really enjoyed the book and recommend it highly. The reader must be at an emotional level to understand some of the difficult concepts dealing with Cuba. For example, Charlie and a Cuban boy discover a gun cache dating back to the time of Castro's revolution in 1959 and the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

[Katharine Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the Travels With my Family series that I'm reading with my 7-year-old. This one addressed heavier subject matter than some of the others in this series, delving into Cuba's history and the Cuban revolution. We both loved this one and when it was over he said "I feel like we're missing something now. I feel like I want more!" I hear ya, bud. Luckily, we have two more in the series (that we are reading completely out of order, but oh well).

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

With thanks to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press Inc. for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I love books with a strong sense of setting and anytime I can travel through the pages of the book, I'm in! I enjoyed the illustrations in the book and the general storyline, but sometimes felt that the book fell a little flat in how Cuba and the people of Cuba were described.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Copy...it's another family trip off the beaten path! I did like that yes its a gentle-warm trip through Cuba's sights and sounds but also no sugar coating (yet accessible to the targeted age group too) of the political-social quirks + history of Cuba itself too.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great travel story for kids

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet little story of a family in Cuba.