" As one of the 14,000+ children airlifted from Cuba without parents in the early 1960s, I really identified and understood this book. 11 yr old Carlos had to "die" and become Charles/Chuck/Charlie to survive the translocation at such a tender age. He had to put his parents in the "vault of oblivion" and learn to survive in a "new world" as we all did. I don't think you could appreciate this book without having read "Waiting for Snow in Havana", his first book, which is an even better story. This book moved around in time quite a bit (Whoosh, he calls it) so it is harder to keep track of the chronology. "
— Alicia, 1/29/2014