Live Stream: Marjorie Agosin and Ruth Behar presenting The Maps of Memory and Letters from Cuba

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In the sequel to the I Lived on Butterfly Hill, thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to a very different Chile and makes it her mission to rebuild her community, and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi's time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valparaíso, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she's finally returned home to find the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Celeste is determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill get back to the way it was and to encourage her neighbors to fight to regain what they've lost. More than anything, Celeste wishes she could bring back her best friend, Lucilla, who was one of many to disappear during the dictatorship. Celeste tries to piece together what happened, but it all seems too big to fix--until she receives a letter that changes everything. When Celeste sets off on her biggest adventure yet, she'll uncover more heartbreaking truths of what her country has endured. But every small victory makes a difference, and even if Butterfly Hill can never be what it was, moving forward and healing can make it something even better.

Marjorie Agosín is the Pura Belpré Award-winning author of I Lived on Butterfly Hill. Raised in Chile, her family moved to the United States to escape the horrors of the Pinochet takeover of their country. She has received the Letras de Oro Prize for her poetry, and her writings about--and humanitarian work for--women in Chile have been the focus of feature articles in The New York TimesThe Christian Science Monitor, and Ms. magazine. She has also won the Latino Literature Prize for her poetry. She is a Spanish professor at Wellesley College.

 

Letters from Cuba is an inspiring story of a young Jewish girl who escapes Poland to make a new life in Cuba, while she works to rescue the rest of her family. The situation is getting dire for Jews in Poland on the eve of World War II. Esther's father has fled to Cuba, and she is the first one to join him. It's heartbreaking to be separated from her beloved sister, so Esther promises to write down everything that happens until they're reunited. And she does, recording both the good--the kindness of the Cuban people and her discovery of a valuable hidden talent--and the bad: the fact that Nazism has found a foothold even in Cuba. Esther's evocative letters are full of her appreciation for life and reveal a resourceful, determined girl with a rare ability to bring people together, all the while striving to get the rest of their family out of Poland before it's too late. Based on Ruth Behar's family history, this compelling story celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the most challenging times.

Ruth Behar, the Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Lucky Broken Girl, was born in Havana, Cuba, grew up in New York, and has also lived in Spain and Mexico. In addition to writing for young people, her work includes poetry, memoir, and the acclaimed travel books An Island Called Home and Traveling Heavy, which explore her return journeys to Cuba and her search for home. She was the first Latina to win a MacArthur Genius Grant, and other honors include a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and being named a Great Immigrant by the Carnegie Corporation. She is an anthropology professor at the University of Michigan and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
(Twitter: @ruthbehar / Instagram: ruthbeharauthor / Facebook: Ruth-Behar / Websites: sites.lsa.umich.edu/ruth-behar; ruthbehar.com; Carnegie Corporation, 2018 Great Immigrants Honoree: carnegie.org/awards/honoree/ruth-behar)

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Books: 
The Maps of Memory: Return to Butterfly Hill (The Butterfly Hill Series) By Marjorie Agosin, Lee White (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Marjorie Agosin, Lee White (Illustrator)
$18.99
This book is currently on backorder. Please call or email for availability.
ISBN: 9781481469012
Published: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books - September 22nd, 2020

Letters from Cuba By Ruth Behar Cover Image
$17.99
This book is currently on backorder. Please call or email for availability.
ISBN: 9780525516477
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - August 25th, 2020

Lucky Broken Girl By Ruth Behar Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9780399546457
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - April 10th, 2018

I Lived on Butterfly Hill (The Butterfly Hill Series) By Marjorie Agosin, Lee White (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Marjorie Agosin, Lee White (Illustrator)
$9.99
ISBN: 9781416994022
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers - February 10th, 2015