A Través de Los Mares / Across So Many Seas - by Ruth Behar (Paperback)

About the Book

"Spanning over five hundred years, a novel telling the stories of four girls from different generations of a Jewish family, many of them forced to leave their country and start a new life"--

Book Synopsis

El deseo de pertenecer a algún lugar y el amor por la vida unen a las cuatro protagonistas de la nueva novela de Ruth Behar, autora ganadora del Premio Pura Belpré

ESPAÑA, 1492: La familia de Benvenida huye de la Inquisición. Todos están en peligro si no renuncian a sus creencias religiosas.

TURQUÍA, 1923: Después de la Guerra de Independencia, Reina confía en que tendrá más libertad. Pero su padre la castiga, exiliándola a Cuba.

CUBA, 1961: Alegra, la hija de Reina, se ilusiona con el triunfo de la Revolución. No sospecha que sus días en la isla están contados.

MIAMI, 2003: A Paloma, la hija de Alegra, le fascinan esas historias familiares que, después de siglos, lograron llevarla a un lugar seguro. Viaja a España, junto a sus padres y a su abuela Reina para comprender mejor su pasado, pero no se imaginan lo que descubrirán en su viaje.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Spanning over 500 years, Pura Belpré Award-winner, Ruth Behar's, epic novel tells the stories of four girls from different generations of a Jewish family, many of them forced to leave their country and start a new life.

In 1492, during the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida and her family are banished from Spain for being Jewish, and must flee the country or be killed. They journey by foot and by sea, eventually settling in Istanbul. Over four centuries later, in 1923, shortly after the Turkish war of independence, Reina's father disowns her for a small act of disobedience. He ships her away to live with an aunt in Cuba, to be wed in an arranged marriage when she turns fifteen.

In 1961, Reina's daughter, Alegra, is proud to be a brigadista, teaching literacy in the countryside for Fidel Castro. But soon Castro's crackdowns force her to flee to Miami all alone, leaving her parents behind.

Finally, in 2003, Alegra's daughter, Paloma, is excited to travel from her home in Miami to visit Spain with her parents and Grandma Reina. In a museum there, she sees a note preserved from the Middle Ages that, unbeknownst to her, was written by her ancestor Benvenida just before she fled the country. Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by their desire to learn and their longing for a home where they will be welcome.

About the Author

Ruth Behar nació en La Habana, Cuba, creció en Nueva York y también ha vivido en España y México. Además de escribir para lectores jóvenes, su trabajo incluye poesía, memorias y los aclamados libros de viaje An Island Called Home y Traveling Heavy, que exploran sus viajes de regreso a Cuba y la búsqueda de su hogar. Fue la primera latina en ganar una beca MacArthur "Genius". Obtuvo una beca John Simon Guggenheim y fue nombrada "Gran Inmigrante" por la Carnegie Corporation. Actualmente es profesora de antropología en la Universidad de Michigan y vive en Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Ruth Behar (ruthbehar.com), the Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Lucky BrokenGirl and Letters from Cuba, was born in Havana, Cuba, grew up in New York, and hasalso lived in Spain and Mexico. Her work also includes poetry, memoir, and theacclaimed travel books An Island Called Home and Traveling Heavy. She was the firstLatina to win a MacArthur "Genius" Grant, and other honors include a John SimonGuggenheim Fellowship and being named a "Great Immigrant" by the CarnegieCorporation. An anthropology professor at the University of Michigan, she lives in AnnArbor, Michigan.