How to Say Goodbye in Cuban

Using richly rendered watercolor illustrations accented by dark shadows, Miyares (Hope at Sea) chronicles his father’s childhood in Cuba. In the 1950s, Carlos grows up in the countryside, largely unaware of the growing tension between Fidel Castro and President Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar. Carlos’s parents don’t have much money or strong political ties, but after winning the lottery, his father starts a business and moves the family to the city of Matanzas. There, Carlos sees firsthand how protests and political unrest has shaped the metropolitan landscape. His father’s good fortune is short-lived: soon Castro’s army takes over and seizes the business. For nearly a year, Carlos’s father disappears, until he returns with a plan for the family to immigrate to the U.S. Vibrant hues portray the Caribbean setting in a story that’s layered as emotionally as it is visually. Miyares effectively conveys fear, confusion, and relational shifts Carlos navigates during a time of social upheaval, depicted via single-page, b&w interjections throughout. It’s a reverent graphic novel about one immigrant family’s experience navigating Cuba’s tumultuous political history that offers a glimpse into the events’ effect on future generations. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)