Good-Bye, Havana! Hola, New York!

After Castro confiscates her father’s restaurant, Gabriella’s parents leave Cuba for New York to settle in the Bronx. Unaware of the reason for their departure or its consequences, Gabriella stays with her grandparents. Several weeks later, her father returns and takes her to her new home. “She missed her toys, the sound of the beach, and Abuelita and Abito.” She cries the first day of school; “Miss Lepoor kept talking to Gabriella, but Gabriella did not understand.” This picture book chronicles the year in which Gabriella learns English, makes friends, and acclimates to her new life. One…

Good-bye, Havana! Hola, New York!
Edie Colón, illus. by Raúl Colón. S&S/Wiseman, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4424-0674-2
Edie Colón's autobiographical story about making a new life in the Bronx after leaving Cuba in 1960 stars a six-year-old version of herself named Gabriella; Colón describes her journey, emotions, and adjustments to America in simple language. In his signature, almost pointillist style, Raúl Colón's earth-toned artwork imbues the story with a comforting texture and warmth, closely depicting the clothing, hair, and décor of the era. The dialogue is smoothly rendered in Spanish and…

--Publishers Weekly, May 16, 2011

Good-bye, Havana! Hola, New York!.
Colon, Edie (Author) , Colon, Raul (Illustrator)
Aug 2011. 32 p. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman, hardcover, $16.99. (9781442406742).

Edie Colón, wife of illustrator Raul, bases this fictional story on her own coming-to-America experience
from Castro’s Cuba. As a six-year-old, Gabriella isn’t sure what revolution means. But soon enough, it
begins to affect her family: her grandparents’ restaurant is confiscated, and her parents leave to make a
home in the U.S. As much as she loves her grandparents, she is relieved when her father returns for her, not really understanding how different her life in America is going to be. Everything changes for
Gabriella: language, climate, sights, sounds, and smells. Slowly, though, she adjusts…

--Booklist, September 1, 2011

“Lush, evocative.” — School Library Journal “Raul Colón’s art…has a sweetness that’s sometimes tinged with anxiety, sometimes with hope. A fine addition to books about the immigrant experience.” — Booklist “This gentle look back at an important time will also speak to contemporary children whose families are starting anew in the United States.”