Please see the January 25 Sydney Taylor Awards press release from the Association of Jewish Libraries. The book was named a Notable Book at the virtual livecast at the Youth Media Awards announcement at the American Library Association. Named in memory of Sydney Taylor, author of the classic ​All-of-a-Kind Family​ series, the award recognizes books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.

This book tells another aspect of WW2 stories though the plot is weakened by the story of the doctor. I did not understand why he was seen as so evil. That said, I know that the younger readers who enjoy historical fiction will really love to read this book.

Cuba right before WWII seems to offer Jewish immigrants some  opportunities, but even there, Esther and her father find Nazis.  Told all in letters to her sister, Malka, this book shows Esther's voyage from Poland to Cuba, and her life there once she arrives.  Like any other place, she meets nice and not-so-nice people.  She learns to speak Spanish, eat tropical fruits, and about Afro-Cuban and Chinese-Cuban groups.  Esther's finds she has talent for sewing and dress design, and they soon manage to raise enough money to get the rest of the family out of Poland, right before borders are closed.  Based on the author's family history.

A fictionalized account of how the author's maternal grandmother immigrated from Poland to Cuba. Set just as persecution of Jews under the Nazis was growing but before Cuba began to shut down it's borders to immigrants, I kept expecting a tragedy, and while there are definite hints of horrors unfolding, Behar does an excellent job of portraying historical realities, including slavery in Cuba itself, without overwhelming middle grade readers. The format of book, letters that Esther writes but never sends to her younger sister, does feel a bit contrived, but overall, this is an excellent historical fiction book for middle grade readers.

As the toxicity of of the Nazi Germany grows in 1930's Europe, Esther's father decides to leave their Polish village and immigrate to Cuba with the goal of earning enough money to bring his wife, four children, and his mother to the safety of Cuba. It is a daunting task, and after three years, he only has enough for one person. Esther, the second oldest child, is chosen to travel alone to Cuba, and help her father earn the money to bring everyone to safety. Esther puts every lesson her mother taught her about sewing to good use, but it takes over a year to save enough money for the tickets. They did it in the nick of time since Cuba was beginning to close their ports to immigrant ships.  
Beautifully written, from the plot unfolding through Ester's letters to her sister, to the voices of the characters, and the historical events.  The focus is on a small period of time in Cuba's history,  and the impact of other cultures as they arrived on the island, some by choice  and in the past, as slaves.  Rival political groups offer a comparison with todays world, and a peek at what was the years after WWII would hold for Cuba's political scene. Esther's letters are never sent but serve as a well dressed introduction to Cuba for her sister when she finally arrives.  In today's world,  we need a  plot with examples of people living with and respecting others, and this is it. Perfect for the middle grades and up.

Letters From Cuba is the story of 12 year old Esther and her life with her father after leaving a tumultuous Poland during the rise of Nazi Germany.  Esther and her father Abram work in a small town outside of Havana in the hopes of making enough money to reunite with their mother, grandmother and four younger siblings.  Told in an epistolary style, Esther writes her younger sister Malka during the months of their separation. It's Esther's greatest wish that Malka will one day get to read the letters she's written to her when she reaches the shores of Cuba.

Behar's spirited protagonist compels you keep reading to learn more and more about her experience.  The author also writes an amazing cast of secondary characters. The Cuban doctor and his wife, Manuela and her family, and  shopkeeper Juan Chang and his nephew.  I had to keep reading and was invested in Esther's family making it out of Europe before borders closed.

I cannot wait to get this into the hands of my students.  We talk a lot about historical fiction, and this text would be a great resource for what was happening in other places of the world during the surge of Nazism.  This message of hope is as relevant now as it was then.

It's 1938 and Papa has been in Cuba for three years, working to save money to bring the rest of his family there from Poland and away from the  increasing Nazi threat to Jews. Normally, it would be the eldest son, Moshe, who would be the first child to join his father, but 11-going-on-12-year-old Esther Abraham, the eldest daughter, makes such a convincing case to Papa, that she is chosen to join him, much to her mother's consternation. 
But, on her own, Esther travels through Poland, Nazi Germany, and Holland, boards a ship to cross the Atlantic, only to learn that the first stop is Mexico, not Cuba and that she will be the only passenger when they leave port. But Esther, being a naturally friendly girl, has made friends with the animals on board, spending time with them until they reach Havana, Cuba and the next delay.

In the end, Papa is there and, before they head to the town where he lives, he has to conduct some business, introducing Esther to Zvi Mandelbaum. It turns out Papa's job in Cuba is as a itinerant peddler, not the shopkeeper his family thought he was, and he gets his wares from Mandelbaum, who immediately gives Esther a pair of sandals so she can take off her hot woolen stockings. 

From the moment Esther began her trip, she decided to write down "every interesting thing that happens" in letters for her younger sister Malka. That way when the rest of the family are finally in Cuba, they can read the letters and it will be as if they had been together the whole time. (pg 2) The result is detailed descriptions of the people Esther meets, the places she goes, and her daily life with Papa.

Esther is friendly, outgoing, and smart, picking up Spanish quickly. And she is also quite enterprising, helping her father sell the items he is given by Mandelbaum. Despite being the only Jews in the town of Matanzas, almost everyone friendly and giving, accepting her and her father. But after Esther sews herself a new dress to wear in the hot Cuban weather, she soon begins a successful trade as a dressmaker to help make money to bring her family to Cuba. 

Their lives in Cuba are basically pleasant and enjoyable, filled with new friends of diverse backgrounds, including Manuela and her Afro Cuban grandmother, and the Changs from China, as well as the local doctor and his wife, Señora Graciela. It is she who gives Esther a sewing machine that helps her begin her dressmaking business. But Cuba are not without its Nazi sympathizers, including the doctor's brother, Señor Eduardo. He wants to start a Nazi party in Cuba with an anti-immigrant agenda to get rid of the Jews there.

As the situation in Europe becomes more perilous for the Jews there, it becomes more and more imperative to get the money to bring the whole Abraham family to Cuba. 

Esther's letters to Malka are quite detailed. And though the story may not be the kind of exciting tale we are accustomed to from this period in history, it is still a wonderful window into a life we don't often read about. Small wonder it reads so authentically. Behar based this novel on her grandmother's experience of traveling to Cuba in 1927 to join her father. Like Esther, her family had lived in Govorvo, Poland. And like Esther, one beloved family member didn't make to Cuba. 

I enjoyed reading Letters from Cuba a lot. Sometimes I just don't want a lot of action and an epistolary novel like this is just the ticket for an evening of reading during COVID-19 time. Esther is a great character - a bold feminist yet respectful of her elders, especially Papa, and her religious traditions. I can't even imagine letting an 11-year-old girl travel from Poland to Cuba, part of the way in Nazi territory, all by herself. She is a character with perseverance, fortitude, and a maturity beyond her age, as well as a pretty good business woman.

Behar includes an extensive and very interesting Note from the Author about her family and how they settled in Cuba, and her research for writing this book. There is also a list of Resources for further reading.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+

It’s through Esther’s letters that readers learn what it was like for a Polish girl transplanted to a tropical island. In her letters, Esther tells of the heat, of the music, of the kindness she encounters and the prejudice that seems to follow Jews wherever they go.

Hers is a story of great joy and great sorrow. It is the story of friendship, ingenuity and family.

There’s a weight to Letters From Cuba that can only come from truth. The story is inspired by author Ruth Behar’s own family history. It’s something that’s incredibly personal and means a lot to the author, and you can tell. The care in which Behar tells not only Esther’s story, but that of those who she comes into contact with is impeccable.

Esther is special. Her heart is so pure, her spirit so strong. Even when she’s struggling, she finds the light. Even in the book’s darkest moments, Esther’s will shines through. I love her curiosity, her drive and her willingness to put others before herself.

Prior to reading Letters From Cuba I knew very little about European Jews escaping to Cuba. This is a fascinating look at an oft-looked-over part of history.

When I think of Jews fleeing Europe to escape the Holocaust, I don't really think of Cuba. However, when the United States closed its borders, many Jews chose to go to Cuba, as close to America as they could get. This book is based on the story of the author's grandmother who traveled alone to meet up with her father in Cuba. Together they worked to bring over the rest of the family from Poland. It is clearly written with love and brings the reader right into the heart of the Levin family. I would have loved to read it as a 5th grader and I'm grateful that it exists now. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

This book was wholesome and genuinely a breathe of fresh air. I enjoyed reading a book that had my on the edge of seat with twist and turns but was sending a message that sometimes life is not fair and can be cruel but you have to keep surviving and find the good in people. This book showed a gentler side of the Holocaust and the tragedy faced by thousand of people and how some people found a way to survive and make the best of a desperate situation. Esther is so innocent and her experiences are shaped by this, for it allows her to be open to trying new things and trusting the good in people.

Esther was such an uplifting character to read about in this new story from Ruth Behar. She was curious, open, hard-working, friendly and independent. I couldn’t help but smile as I read the story through her point of view. She was an easily likeable character. 

Readers first meet Esther as she writes about begging her father to let her come to Cuba first instead of her younger brother. Her father agrees and Esther makes the journey on her own from Poland all the way to Cuba where after medical exams she is finally released to her father. Esther embraces living in Cuba and she quickly adapts. She’s resourceful and open and makes friends easily. She tells her story through letters to her younger sister in Poland and readers watch as these letters turn into more like journal entries as Esther pours her thoughts, feelings and experiences into those letters.
 
I loved reading as Esther took it upon herself to help her father work and then as she became the main “money-maker” at just the age of 11. Her work ethic was to be envied! But not only did I envy her work ethic, I also loved her empathy and her curiosity and her willingness to reach out to everyone she met. Through these traits, Esther introduced readers to friends from multiple cultures and experiences. I really love how Behar included this within the story—how she showcased the experiences of former slaves and of Chinese immigrants to Cuba as well as the Cuban culture itself. There was so much goodness in being able to experience these different cultures and also in showcasing how many different groups of people were discriminated against. The biggest form of discrimination readers got to witness was the anti-Semitism enacted upon Esther and her father. 

As stated in the description, the situation in Poland was getting dire for the Jewish people. Esther’s father left to Cuba because of this growing dangerous situation. This story was as much about a growing, hard-working, empathetic young girl as it was about a lesser known Jewish experience during World War II. Esther and her father didn’t only experience anti-Semitism while in Poland amid the ever-growing power of the Nazi movement within Europe, but also in Cuba as the Nazi ideology began to immerse itself even within Cuba and the Western hemisphere. 

I didn’t know that Jewish people sought refuge in Cuba as a place to escape to from the rise in Nazi power in Europe. This was a blank spot in my knowledge and definitely not sometime I remember learning about in school. I’m really thankful I was able to read this story and see this part of history I hadn’t known about. I really loved the author’s note at the end and how she spoke about her family and the inspiration behind this story. It shed a lot more light on this topic.

In the end, this story is a must read! It has an extremely likeable character, an easily digestible story structure (letters!) and an important message. I hope all ages give this one a try!

As a history-loving youngster I would have loved this. Through letters to her sister back home, our main character Esther details her trip from Poland to Cuba and her experiences living there with her father. There are friends, there are foes, there are some places where I had to suspend my disbelief re: what an 11 year old refugee was able to accomplish. But all in all, it was a heartwarming read that also taught me about a historical topic I know little about (Jewish refugees in Cuba).

his was a really good read for me. The letter style made it very easy to read just one short letter when I had a little time or sit and read many all at once.
I grew up Jewish so many of the things Esther writes about were relevant to me in some ways, I especially resonated with her feelings as she became friends with people of other cultures but still held on to her own traditions and heritage.

My niece is currently 17 months old but even so I can already see myself sharing this book with her when she is a tween even though it’s 10 years from now but as a child with one Jewish parent and another parent of Cuban descent I think it will be a perfect book for her.

There are many good middle grade novels about the holocaust, but I really appreciated the fresh way this one handled the historical side of the novel.

In this exceptional work based on the experiences of her grandmother, Ruth Behar has introduced readers to a little known part of world history. The plight of the Jews of Eastern Europe in the 20th century is well known. Less well known are the stories of the Jews who immigrated to Central and South America. 

In Letters from Cuba, Behar shares the story of Esther, whose father left Poland for Cuba to start a better life for his family. As is true for many immigrants, past and present. it is harder for Esther's Papa to earn money than he had anticipated. As a traveling salesman, he has been selling religious icons to people in rural Cuba. He is only able to earn enough to bring one relative from Poland. At first, it seems like Esther's brother will be the first to travel overseas, but Esther begs to go instead. 

Esther's story is told through letters that she writes to her sister Malka in Poland. Esther is an incredibly brave and enterprising character. She puts enormous effort into sewing dresses for the women in Cuba so that she and her father can earn more money to send for their family. The situation in Poland is becoming more and more dangerous for Jewish people. The problem, though, is that anti-Semitism is alive worldwide, and there are plenty of people in Cuba who are not happy about the increasing Jewish population. Esther's story is one of true courage and endless perseverance. 

Ruth Behar's choice to tell this story through letters was genius. This is a quickly fading art form that it would be awful to lose. In this age of Facebook and Twitter, it seems like every moment in our lives can be broadcast in just a few words. The power of letters is that they encourage us to choose the most important moments in our lives to share with emotion and detail with those we care most deeply about. Esther becomes more real to the reader because we see her in all of her passion and vulnerability.

Seeing that Letters from Rivka was an inspiration for this really wasn't surprising: they're quite similar in both plot and tone (though there are significantly fewer mentions of Pushkin here, which is fine; I remember being quite confused and mostly uninterested in that element of Rivka as a kid). I did sometimes find the writing a little stilted or awkward in its decisions (e.g. the scene where Esther tells people about the animals which were on the ship with her and they disbelieve her, at which point she gets annoyed with them and then...nothing happens or is revealed? Also the moment of hearing about Hitler for the first time from some German immigrants, even though by the time of the story he had been in power for 5 years or so), and I wished Esther's family might have been characterized more fully, but it's a winning story which blends cultures nicely and Behar's connection to the material really comes through. Reading about Esther building relationships with her new neighbors was lovely, especially as it brought together so many aspects of Cuban history, and I appreciated the descriptions of Jewish holidays and their use as markers of time. (Sometimes I felt as if Esther's Judaism was a little separate from her, but perhaps that's due to some explanation being due the likely majority non-Jewish audience?) Overall a nice historical fiction entry which covers a less frequently discussed immigrant and cultural experience.

As the situation grows more dire in Nazi-occupied Poland, Esther and her father head to Cuba to try and earn enough money to bring the rest of the family to safety. Finding a knack for being a dressmaker, Esther works with the doctor’s wife she and her father live with to sell her dresses and designs. Will their scrimping and saving come in time to rescue the rest of her family before it’s too late? A harrowing, touching story based on a true story. The characters are likable, realistic, and engaging. The plot is enjoyable, well-written, and gives a realistic portrayal of the time period. Fans of world war two fiction, historical fiction, and stories of family and courage will enjoy reading this book. 

Please Note: A copy of this book was given to us by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are our own. No financial compensation was received.

4.5 stars: An inspirational story told through the unique format of letters from Esther to her younger sister Malka. Esther has recently left Poland to join her father in Cuba to help him work and save money in order to bring the rest of the family to Cuba. This historical fiction is based on the life of the author’s grandmother and exemplifies the struggles that Jewish families faced trying to flee from violence in the events surrounding WWII. I love how Esther uses her talents to design and sew dresses, hoping to save enough to reunite her family. An excellent addition to historical fiction novels about WWII for the middle grade set.

I enjoyed this middle grade novel about a young Jewish girl who escapes Poland in 1938 to begin a new life in Cuba with her dad, and the trials they go through in attempting to save the rest of their family from the Nazi invasion in Poland. Although dry at times, I think it provides middle grade readers with insight into how kids struggled and how they felt going through an inconceivable experience. I appreciated the diversity of the Cuban town Esther and her dad lived in, and I always love hearing about Cuban sights and sounds.

Esther's father has emigrated from Poland to Cuba and for three years has been working as a peddler to try to earn enough money to bring his family over. In 1938 is the onset of WWII in Poland and Jews are suffering under the hate of the Nazi regime. Esther convinces her father that she should join him instead of her brother, so she travels alone on a ship to Havana. and then on to the small town of Agramonte. Based on the author's grandmother's life, this book was very engaging and I think Esther's struggle to help support her family would resonate with middle school readers. I particularly appreciated how Behar wove African slavery issue with Jewish history. This well-researched book is relevant, moving, moving and very readable. I liked "Lucky Broken Girl," but I loved "Letters from Cuba."

Absolutely fantastic and riveting story of a young girl's experience moving from Poland to Cuba in the late 1930s. I loved Esther’s point of view and the format of the book (letters to her younger sister). Extremely compelling middle grade historical fiction that is beautifully written.