Across So Many Seas

Ages 10 And Up, Grades 5 And Up

Spanning over five hundred 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. 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. In 1961, Reina’s daughter, Alegra, is proud to be a brigadista, teaching literacy in the countryside. But soon Fidel Castro’s crackdowns force her to flee to Miami, leaving her parents behind. In 2003, Alegra’s daughter, Paloma, is fascinated by all the journeys that had to happen before she could be born. A keeper of memories, she’s thrilled to learn more about her heritage on a trip to Spain, where she makes a momentous discovery.

Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by their desire to belong and to matter, and by the haunting beauty they find in sad Spanish songs--and each is lucky to stand on the shoulders of her courageous ancestors.

Story Locale:Toledo, Spain; Naples, Italy; Istanbul, Turkey; Cuba (Havana and the countryside); Miami, Florida

About the Author

Ruth Behar (RuthBehar.com), the Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Lucky Broken Girl, Letters from Cuba, and Across So Many Seas, was born in Havana, Cuba, grew up in New York, and has also lived in Spain and Mexico. Her work also includes poetry, memoir, and the acclaimed travel books An Island Called Home and Traveling Heavy. She was the first Latina to win a MacArthur "Genius" Grant, and other honors include a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and being named a "Great Immigrant" by the Carnegie Corporation. An anthropology professor at the University of Michigan, she lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Author Residence: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Author Hometown: Havana, Cuba & New York City