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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Miyares, Daniel

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban

240 pp. | Random/Schwartz | September, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780593568293 $21.99 | Library ISBN 9780593568316 $24.99 | Paper ISBN 9780593568309 $13.99 | Spanish ISBN 9798890983282 $18.95
(1) 4-6 In this fictional graphic novel based on Miyares's father's childhood, Carlos is growing up in the Cuban countryside in 1956. He loves spending time with his friends and family, especially his abuelo, and searching for shark teeth at the beach. When Carlos's papi wins the lottery, they all move to a new house in a nearby city. But as Fidel Castro launches his revolution to overthrow then-president Fulgencio Batista, the family's way of life and personal freedoms are threatened. Papi leaves for over a year to set up life in the United States, eventually returning to help the rest of his family flee. Lush ink and watercolor illustrations bring emotional depth to the story with rich details, frequent shifts in perspective, and a sunset-hued color palette. At the start of each chapter, a line drawing with a straightforward caption depicts a historical moment in the Cuban Revolution timeline. The book's start in the late 1950s offers a fuller picture of pre-revolution life on the island and an honest look at the complicated relationships within and among Cuban families in this period. Pair with Castellanos's Isla to Island (rev. 3/22) and Rodriguez's Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey for graphic-novel and graphic-memoir, respectively, renditions of other Cuban immigration experiences from the mid-to-late twentieth century.
Reviewer: Monica de los Reyes | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2025

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