THE BLUEST SKY

A sixth grader struggles with leaving the life he knows under Cuba’s oppressive communist regime.

In 1980, the Cuban government opened the port of Mariel, permitting those who could obtain visas and arrange for boat passage to emigrate. When Héctor was 5, his father was jailed for speaking out about the lack of freedom in Cuba; recently he was sent to the U.S. as part of a political exchange. But when his mother floats the possibility of reuniting with his father in Miami, Héctor doesn’t want to go. Despite the toll of living with constant fear and the uncomfortable need to keep up public appearance of support for Fidel Castro’s repressive policies, Héctor is ambivalent about leaving. He’s a math whiz on track to represent Cuba at the International Math Olympiad and wants to remain close to his friends and Abuela—whose status as a delegate to Cuba’s National Assembly enables her to confer privileges on Héctor’s family, from Swiss chocolate to supplies beyond the meager government rations afforded everyone else. But everything changes when a betrayal leads to an act of repudiation in which a mob of neighbors go to Héctor’s house to accuse the family of being gusanos, or traitors. Following a tragedy, nothing is left for Héctor and his family but to painfully wait for their exit visas. What comes next is a suspenseful, emotional quest for freedom, fraught with danger and deception, that will keep pages turning.

Heartbreaking, riveting, beautifully written.