The Red Umbrella

The Red Umbrella (2010), by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, is told through the eyes 14-year-old Lucia Alvarez. As the book opens, Lucia's primary concerns are her hair, experiencing her first kiss, and imagining the fiesta for her quinces (15th birthday celebration). All of that promptly changes once soldiers appear in her town and life as she knows it unravels. Paranoia takes over. People disappear. Families -- and relatives -- turn against each other.

Lucia's parents make the impossibly difficult decision to send her and her little brother, Frankie, to the United States, vowing to join their children when they can. Lucia and her brother end up with a well-meaning family in Grand Island, Nebraska, which they soon discover, is not much like the "island" they pictured.

The story is based on the real life Operation Pedro Pan, (On a side note, the Miami Herald has a pretty incredible site which connects people affected by the operation.) which brought more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to Miami from 1960-62. The Red Umbrella presents a golden opportunity for students to learn the history of Cuba, its revolution, and about Fidel Castro.  It could lead to discussions of political/economic systems. What is socialism? How is socialism different than communism? How do social and communism compare to capitalism? How did President Obama orchestrate a socialist takeover of the U.S. governement? (Discolusure: One of these questions may not be intended for classroom use.)

Additionally, since the story is told through a teenage immigrant, it forces students to see what life is like for people trying to integrate into America. High school is difficult for any teenager, but how about someone new to the U.S. who has only a basic understanding of English? What if you were put in a similar situation and shipped off to a Spanish-speaking country knowing little of the language and without your parents, taking up residence with a strange family in the equivalent of Nebraska, and enrolled in the local school? Students will hopefully gain greater sympathy for immigrants and a better understanding of the hardships, barriers, and discrimination that immigrants -- and English Language Learners -- encounter in the U.S. as well as the wide variety of reasons that bring them here.

The story's frequent use of Spanish words and phrases exhbits the difficult balance of integrating into a new culture while holding onto one's original culture. This can lead into a discussion about the difference between acculturation and assimilation. This Teacher's Guide to The Red Umbrella includes an interview with the author, discussion starters and activities.

Throughout The Red Umbrella, students have the opportunity to predict what will happen and transplant themselves into the situation and discuss how they would feel and act, or what they would have done differently. Cultural differences and misunderstandings can also be discussed with the class. When they arrrive at the Chicago airport, Lucia is nervous because of what she has heard about Al Capone and the mafia. Some questions for students to think about: What impressions and possible misperceptions do you think people new to the U.S. have about the country? What impressions do you have about Cuba? Do you think they are accurate?

Here is my book trailer for The Red Umbrella.