Download or read book The Cat King of Havana written by Tom Crosshill and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lolcats. Salsa dancing. Unrequited love. Tom Crosshill's smart and witty debut teen novel treads a colorful coming-of-age journey from New York City to Havana that will appeal to fans of books by Matthew Quick and Junot Díaz. When Rick Gutiérrez—known as "That Cat Guy" at school—gets dumped on his sixteenth birthday for uploading cat videos from his bedroom instead of experiencing the real world, he realizes it's time for a change. So Rick joins a salsa class . . . because of a girl, of course. Ana Cabrera is smart, friendly, and smooth on the dance floor. He might be half Cuban, but Rick dances like a drunk hippo. Desperate to impress Ana, he invites her to spend the summer in Havana. The official reason: learning to dance. The hidden agenda: romance under the palm trees. Except Cuba isn't all sun, salsa, and music. As Rick and Ana meet his family and investigate the reason why his mother left Cuba decades ago, they learn that politics isn't just something that happens to other people. And when they find romance, it's got sharp edges.

Download or read book Queens of Havana written by Alicia Castro and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This evocative memoir is a joyous, rhythmic history” of the 11-sister dance band that broke musical and cultural barriers in 1930s Cuba and beyond (Publishers Weekly). In the 1930s, Havana was the place to be for tourists, ex-pats, celebrities, and excitement-seekers. Nights were filled with drinking, dancing, romance, and the roar of infectious music spilling from cafés into the streets. It was a time and place immortalized by Hemingway, and a macho mecca where only men took the stage. That is until Alicia Castro, a thirteen-year-old greengrocer’s daughter, picked up a saxophone and led her sisters into the limelight. With infectious melodies and saucy lyrics, the Sisters Castro—professionally known as Anacaona—became a dance-band of irresistible force. In her jubilant memoir, Queens of Havana, Alicia Castro tells of her incredible rise beyond her native city, to international stardom—swinging alongside legends from Dizzy Gillespie and Celia Cruz to Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. In an age that insisted women be seen and not heard, Alicia Castro and her unstoppable sisters grabbed the world by the ears and got it dancing to their beat. At eighty-seven-years old, Alicia’s stories are intoxicating and gloriously punctuated with more than 100 vintage photos, posters, and other memorabilia in a book that “reverberates with exotic echoes of a fabulous long-ago era” (Publishers Weekly).

Download or read book All the Way to Havana written by Margarita Engle and published by Henry Holt Books For Young Readers. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Showcasing the colorful buildings and iconic classic cars of Havana, this verse picture book follows a Cuban boy and his family on their road trip into the city.

Download or read book The Dogs of Cuba written by Emmy Park and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-28 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the lives of Cuba's dogs through the lens of award-winning photographer Emmy Park. This book is full of beautiful and raw images; explore the relationship between Cubans and their canine companions that roam the colorful streets, iconic landmarks, and remote areas of Cuba. Learn about local animal rescue organizations that provide care and medical attention to dogs without homes, and why they need support. Featuring every Cuban province, be transported into the daily lives of dogs against the backdrop of rugged streets and lush landscapes.

Download or read book King of Cuba written by Cristina Garcia and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-05-21 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Fidel Castro-like octogenarian Cuban exile obsessively seeks revenge against the dictator.

Download or read book Havana World Series written by José Latour and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “dark, rich, and satisfying” novel of mobsters, baseball, and 1950s Cuba (Entertainment Weekly). It is the fall of 1958 and all of Cuba is riveted to the World Series—the New York Yankees are playing the Milwaukee Braves, and the infamous Meyer Lansky’s gambling empire is raking in millions in bets. But rival mob boss Joe Bonnano, working with a team of Cuba’s boldest and most ingenious criminals, plans to hijack Lanksy’s fortune. The heist goes off brilliantly—until Bonnano’s point man is shot dead. As Lansky’s man in the police department investigates the case, he is caught up in a colorful and dangerous world of gangsters, misfits, and double-crosses . . . “A lively, entertaining read.” —Publishers Weekly “The characters are fascinating, the story compelling . . . You couldn’t ask for more.” —Orlando Sentinel “Suspenseful . . . captures the sights, sounds, smells and rhythms of Havana.” —The Miami Herald

Download or read book Conversations with Cuba written by C. Peter Ripley and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A long-time Cuba watcher discusses his love affair with this proud, passionate, troubled nation, from his romanticized high school observances of Castro's revolution to his five illegal trips to the nation between 1991 and 1997.

Download or read book Hemingway s Cats written by Carlene Brennen and published by Pineapple Press Inc. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revised edition for lovers of cats and literature. "Hemingway's Cats" tellsof the many cats the famed writer Ernest Hemingway had as a child to the morethan 30 felines that this book chronicles in his adult life. Filled with rarephotos of the author and his cats. Foreword by Hemingway's niece.

Download or read book Havana Dreams written by Wendy Gimbel and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-03-09 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating, powerfully evocative story of four generations of Cuban women, through whose lives the author illuminates a vivid picture--both personal and historical--of Cuba in our century. "When I want to read a culture," writes Wendy Gimbel in her prologue, "I listen to stories about families, sensing in their contours the substance of larger mysteries." And certainly in the Revuelta family she has found a source of both mystery and revelation. At its center is Naty: born in 1925, educated in the United States, a socialite during the Batista era, who after marriage to a prominent doctor and the birth of a daughter became intoxicated with Castro and his revolution (here, published for the first time, are the letters they exchanged while he was in jail). Though her husband and daughter immigrated to the United States after Castro's victory, Naty remained in Cuba to raise her second child, Castro's unacknowledged daughter, only to be ultimately confronted by his dismissive, withering judgment: "Naty missed the train." Her two daughters, one of whom settles well into life in America, while the other never recovers from her father's intransigent repudiation of her; her granddaughter, who Naty desperately believes will return to Cuba when--not if--Castro is removed from the island; and her mother, an unregenerate reactionary: these are the lives that complete this extraordinary story. Each of the women is irrevocably marked with a part of the island's terrible and poignant tale, and Wendy Gimbel has created a rich and intense narrative of their lives and times. Havana Dreams leaves us with an indelible impression of familial obligation and illicit love; of the heady but doomed romanticism of revolution; and of the profound consequences of Cuba's contemporary history for the ordinary and most intimate lives of its people.

Download or read book My Brigadista Year written by Katherine Paterson and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an engrossing historical novel, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Bridge to Terebithia follows a young Cuban teenager as she volunteers for Fidel Castro’s national literacy campaign and travels into the impoverished countryside to teach others how to read. When thirteen-year-old Lora tells her parents that she wants to join Premier Castro’s army of young literacy teachers, her mother screeches to high heaven, and her father roars like a lion. Nora has barely been outside of Havana — why would she throw away her life in a remote shack with no electricity, sleeping on a hammock in somebody’s kitchen? But Nora is stubborn: didn’t her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Surprisingly, Nora’s abuela takes her side, even as she makes Nora promise to come home if things get too hard. But how will Nora know for sure when that time has come? Shining light on a little-known moment in history, Katherine Paterson traces a young teen’s coming-of-age journey from a sheltered life to a singular mission: teaching fellow Cubans of all ages to read and write, while helping with the work of their daily lives and sharing the dangers posed by counterrevolutionaries hiding in the hills nearby. Inspired by true accounts, the novel includes an author’s note and a timeline of Cuban history.

Download or read book Cuba Going Back written by Tony Mendoza and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-07-05 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A subtle yet striking collection of sepia-like photographs depicting life in Cuba, coupled with the perceptive observations of a Cuban exile returning home.” —Miami Herald Imagine being unable to return to your homeland for thirty-six years. What would you do if you finally got a chance to go back? In 1996, after travel restrictions between the United States and Cuba were relaxed, Cuban exile Tony Mendoza answered that question. Taking his cameras, notebooks, and an unquenchable curiosity, he returned for his first visit to Cuba since the summer of 1960, when he emigrated with his family at age eighteen. In this book he presents over eighty evocative photographs accompanied by a beautifully written text that mingles the voices of many Cubans with his own to offer a compelling portrait of a resilient people awaiting the inevitable passing of the socialist system that has failed them. His photographs and interviews bear striking witness to the hardships and inequalities that exist in this workers’ “paradise,” where the daily struggle to make ends meet on an average income of eight dollars a month has created a longing for change even in formerly ardent revolutionaries. At the same time, Cuba—Going Back is an eloquent record of a personal journey back in time and memory that will resonate with viewers and readers both within and beyond the Cuban American community. It belongs on the shelves of anyone who values excellent photography and well-crafted prose. “This book, based on the photos and interviews he conducted on his trip, is a remarkable first-hand account of today’s Cuba.” —Library Journal

Download or read book When Cats Reigned Like Kings written by Georgie Anne Geyer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her fascinating exploration of feline history, Georgie Anne Geyer explores the connections between the royal and sacred felines of ancient civilizations and the beloved domestic cats of today. Chasing an irresistible mystery across the globe, Geyer conducts exhaustive research into the little-known puzzle of how cats came to occupy their unique position in the lives of humans. Treated with the tenacity, resourcefulness, and narrative instinct of a seasoned foreign correspondent, the investigation yields unexpected answers and poses tantalizing new questions. It was Geyer's curiosity about her own cats that inspired her to study the history of human-feline relations and especially the exalted status of cats among the ancients as royal or sacred beings. In Egypt, Geyer learned of the cat-goddess Bastet and of the cat's role in the transmigration of souls. In Myanmar she saw Leonardo DiCaprio, Ricky Martin, and the other incongruously named cats of the Nga Phe Kyaung monastery, trained by the monks to jump through hoops. She even met a family who dutifully guards the heritage of the Japanese Bobtail, cultivating the line in of all places rural Virginia. Richly illustrated with photographs of Geyer's journeys and historical cat images, When Cats Reigned Like Kings describes forty-one recognized modern cat breeds plus other popular cats. Every cat lover can, thus, trace his or her cat to these breeds and their many relatives. The result is a remarkable book, bound to delight and amaze cat fanciers and adventure seekers.

Download or read book The Habana Caf Cookbook written by Josefa Gonzalez-Hastings and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2004-06-01 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Culinary wizard and cafe owner Josefa Gonzalez-Hastings offers this extravagance of Cuban cooking as a celebration of her heritage. Many of the recipes were passed down to her from her mother and aunts; others are "nuevo Latino cuisine"--a fusion of traditional Cuban foods with modern dishes. Cuban food and preparation always has been varied, she says, flavored by the ancestry of the island, with contributions from Spanish conquistadors, African slaves, Asian laborers, and Indian natives. Of course, she also includes Habana Cafe's standard sides of rice, black beans, and glazed golden-brown plantains. Customer favorites are all represented here in easy-to-follow recipes and colorful photographs--from appetizers and soups, seafood and vegetarian entrees, to classics (Cuban sandwiches and flan) and beverages (mojitos, sangria, cafe con leche, Cuba libre). Gonzalez-Hastings also provides a glossary explaining typical ethnic Cuban ingredients such as bijol, a condiment used to give rice a yellow color; naranja agria, the tart Seville orange often used to marinate meat and make mojo sauce; and malanga, a mild, nutty root that flavors soups and other sauces. "In my Cuban family," she writes, "two things were always certain-- food and good times." Gonzalez-Hastings shares family stories and photographs of life in pre-Castro Cuba, re-creating the days when Havana was a dining mecca, Ernest Hemingway frequented La Floridita restaurant, and the island gave birth to the daiquiri.

Download or read book The Sugar King of Havana written by John Paul Rathbone and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Fascinating...A richly detailed portrait." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Known in his day as the King of Sugar, Julio Lobo was the wealthiest man in prerevolutionary Cuba. He had a life fit for Hollywood: he barely survived both a gangland shooting and a firing squad, and courted movie stars such as Joan Fontaine and Bette Davis. Only when he declined Che Guevara's personal offer to become Minister of Sugar in the Communist regime did Lobo's decades-long reign in Cuba come to a dramatic end. Drawing on stories from the author's own family history and other tales of the island's lost haute bourgeoisie, The Sugar King of Havana is a rare portrait of Cuba's glittering past—and a hopeful window into its future.

Download or read book Ruins written by Achy Obejas and published by Akashic Books. This book was released on 2009-03-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1994 Cuba, Usnavy begins to question his loyalty to the Cuban government as his family falls apart amidst rising poverty and he learns a family secret behind his one prize: a Tiffany lamp given to him by his mother.

Download or read book Hemingway s Cats written by Carlene Fredericka Brennen and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ernest Hemingway always had cats as companions, from the ones he adored as a child in Illinois and Michigan, to the more than 30 he had as an adult in Paris, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho. All are chronicled and most are pictured here, along with revelations of how they fit into the many twists and turns of his life and loves. In 1943 Ernest Hemingway, living in the Finca in Cuba with his third wife and eleven cats, wrote to his first wife: "One cat just leads to another... The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you see them all moving like a mass migration at feeding time." He called the cats “purr factories" and “love sponges" who soaked up love in return for comfort and companionship. He gave each a name that suited its character, including F. Puss, Fatso, Friendless, Feather Kitty, Princessa, Furhouse, Uncle Woofer, and his last cat in Idaho, Big Boy Peterson. You'll also meet his nine dogs, a cow, and a young great horned owl that he rescued not long before his death. Hemingway's Cats reveals a softer side to the writer's character than is usually portrayed by the macho image of the hunter and fisherman. He sought the cats' comfort in times of loneliness and stress, and he featured some of them in his writings, particularly in A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, The Garden of Eden, and True at First Light—all written late in his life and as close to autobiography as he came.

Download or read book The Cat Men of Gotham written by Peggy Gavan and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the stories of the tender-hearted men who adopted stray cats from the cruel streets of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century New York. Its forty-two profiles introduce us to an array of remarkable men and extraordinary cats, including sports team mascots, artists' muses, and presidential pets.