“Lucky Broken Girl” by Ruth Behar
Puffin Books, New York, 2017, 257 pages, Grades 4-7.
When war and politics begin destroying a country, people often try to emigrate. This is usually a painful and difficult decision because it often involves learning a new language and the customs of another land.
When Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in the late 1950s, many people were forced to migrate to the United States. Castro’s communist government stole the homes and businesses of thousands of successful Cubans. His brutal governing party arrested and killed people opposing his ideas. As a result, thousands of Cubans fled Castro’s “workers’ paradise” and made homes for themselves throughout the United States.
Ruth Behar, one of Castro’s victims, was forced to flee Cuba as a child. She and her family settled in New York and tried to adjust to a new life in America. Her beautifully written book, “Lucky Broken Girl,” is an account of this journey.
Ruthie Mizrahi is trying to learn English. Though highly intelligent, she is placed in the group of slow readers in the fifth-grade class at Public School 117 in New York. Ruthie feels the stigma of being in the “dumb” group.
Almost all the children in this group are from immigrant families. They are all learning to speak and read English. They don’t know the language or the customs of the United States. One of the ways they react is to give each other forbidden chewing gum during recess, which they later stick on the underside of their desks.
Ruthie doesn’t want to be in the slow group and is determined to learn English and succeed. The parents of the children in this group have come to the United States but still feel culturally tied to their mother country. This causes friction between them and their children. The Old World and the New World clash.
Ruthie’s dad fulfills a dream of his from Cuba and buys a luxurious Oldsmobile car. Her mother and father get in a fight over the expense of the car, and the father storms away angry. Later, they make up and go to visit family to show off the new car. But on the way home, five boys on a joyride jump over a guard rail and smash into the Mizrahis’ car. Ruthie’s leg is shattered and she must be placed in a full body cast up to her shoulders. She is forced to lie immobile for months.
With her father working several jobs to support the family, her mother must take care of the now-incapacitated Ruthie. The child must come to terms with her injury as well. In her homesickness for Cuba and her loss of mobility, Ruthie has to dig deep into herself to find the meaning of suffering and what it takes to achieve authentic human dignity. But being injured doesn’t mean she can’t heal. The first of many steps begin. What happens?
Does Ruthie overcome her crushing problems? Does her family get over their homesickness for Cuba? Who helps Ruthie? How do books, art and reading start the healing? Which other immigrant girl in the neighborhood helps Ruthie? To find out the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out this moving novel, “Lucky Broken Girl” by Ruth Behar.
This novel won the Pura Belpre Award for outstanding writing about Latino culture in 2018. It is a moving and touching story of a young girl struggling to find herself in a very trying situation. Her strength and the love of those surrounding her makes the book an inspiring read.
For middle school students and their older family members, this is an outstanding choice. I think it is a great book and hope you enjoy the novel as much as I did.
