The story
This book is about how one girl, full of courage, transformed her country.
In the country of Cuba where hills roll and villages are bustling with markets of fresh produce, a girl called Lora has an ambition to help her country become an educated one.
Only 13, Lora is determined to apply to Dictator Fidel Castro’s request for voluntary literacy teachers, to help deprived families in just 12 months to learn to read and write. It is not as easy as it sounds, as even though Lora is sure she can complete the task, her father has doubts about his only daughter taking on such a dangerous mission.
Despite this, with the help of her kind and supportive grandmother, Lora persuades him to let her go. She sets off on the rickety bus that will carry the volunteers on the long journey to help children and adults learn the important skills, and is allotted the family of Luis, Veronica and their three little children, Rafael, Emilia and Isabel.
Lora is surprised to find that not one of the family can recite the alphabet, let alone write it out. In just a year Lora must teach them all to pass three complicated tests otherwise she will have failed! Can she succeed in helping one unlucky Cuban family in time?
My thoughts
This book taught me that nobody should take an education for granted and that millions of people are not that lucky. Bravery and courage to teach one family literature can change the world. Even in the grassland, trouble and danger can never be far away and that is what made the book such a heart stopper for me.
