A Través de Los Mares / Across So Many Seas

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.