The Road to Santiago

By Danilo Figueredo, Pablo Torrecilla Puebla
Paperback: $9.95

A fictional story about a boy and his family in Havana who overcome obstacles to reach their relatives in Santiago to celebrate Christmas during the Cuban revolution in the 1950s.

Description

It’s Noche Buena, the night before Christmas, and Alfredito and his parents head for the train station for their annual trip to their relatives in Santiago. But this year things are different. The government is fighting a war against the rebels and the trains are not running. Alfredito worries that they’ll miss the family’s traditional Christmas celebration and all the special foods.

Alfredito’s father enlists the help of a farmer, and they set out down the bumpy road. Little does Alfredito know, they are embarking on a great adventure he will never forget.

Based on author D.H. Figueredo’s own experiences growing up in Cuba in the late 1950s, The Road to Santiago is an action-packed celebration of the human spirit. This heartwarming story is perfect for sharing with the whole family all year long.

About the Creators

Danilo Figueredo

D. H. Figueredo is the author of Lee & Low's When This World Was New and The Road to Santiago. A native of Cuba who has lived in New Jersey since he was a teenager. Figueredo is the director of the Bloomfield College Library and is the author of Cleaning Day and Big Snowball Fight, published by Bebop Books. He lives in Piscataway, New Jersey, with his wife and their children.

Pablo Torrecilla Puebla

Pablo Torrecilla has illustrated many books for the educational market as well as children's picture books, including The Bakery Lady/La señora de la Panaderia by Pat Mora. Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Torrecilla now divides his time between Madrid and Los Angeles, California. Visit him online at PabloTorrecilla.com.

Awards

  • CCBC Choices

    Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Reviews

  • "Torrecilla illustrates this odyssey with brightly lit scenes of tight-lipped figures in 1950s-style hair and dress, posed against clean, if somewhat rundown, urban and rural backgrounds. . . It's the remembered ringing of the cathedral bells, and the taste of the sweet buñelo in Figueredo's hand, however, that will leave the strongest impression on children"

    - Booklist
  • "Focused sharply on the child's longing to celebrate with his relatives, the story of their journey reflects the circumstances of civil war without partisan rancor or needless violence. Torrecilla's full-color illustrations embody the warmth of the text and expand on it, filling the pages with lush tropical foliage, period dress, aging vehicles, and the soldiers of the embattled president. Coupled with Liz Rosenberg's The Silence in the Mountains, (1999), this can be used to present a relatively non-threatening look at how civil violence, in two very different locales, can affect a child's life. It also adds to the always sparsely filled shelf of first-rate multicultural Christmas tales. . ."

    - Kirkus Reviews

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781620143179
  • Publication Date Oct 01, 2003
  • Trim Size 10.25 × 8.25 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781584300595
  • Publication Date Oct 01, 2003
  • Trim Size 10.5 × 8.5 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Interests

  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / People & Places / Caribbean & Latin America
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Historical / Military & Wars
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Holidays & Celebrations / Christmas & Advent
  • Themes Childhood Experiences and Memories, Cultural Diversity, Families, Fathers, Fiction, Gratitude, History & Civics, Holidays / Traditions, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Overcoming Obstacles, People In Motion, Sharing & Giving, War
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 9
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 4
  • Guided Reading R
  • ATOS Book Level 3.8
  • DRA 40
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 4
  • Reading Level Grades 2 - 3
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

    • 202
      Fluent English
      Collection of 202 books: $2,450.80