The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez 275 pages

There have not been many junior fiction novels written about Castro's takeover of Cuba from the perspective of young residents. This begins in May 1961 when Lucia's comfortable life changes and ends one year later.. Her father is a bank official. Her mother worries about societal changes and tries to keep eighth grade Lucia and younger son, Frankie safe at home. Lucia would much rather socialize with her friends and join the young political summer program. After she witnesses her father's boss kidnapped and beaten, she realizes that there is great danger beyond her home.Her parents refuse to join the new powers and send both her and Frankie to the United States after a traitor denounces them to the government and most of their hidden belongings are stolen Life on a lonely Nebraskan farm is quite different. She and Frankie have to help their sponsors with hard chores to earn money for infrequent phone calls to their parents. Her best friend denounces her as an enemy of Cuba in harsh letters. The author shapes this story around the experiences of her parents who were among the 14,000 unaccompanied minors who came to the United States as part of  the Operation Pedro Pan.