This season we read Lucky Broken Girl, the 2018 Pura Belpré award winner by local author Ruth Behar. In the book, Ruthie Mizrahi and her family have recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City. Just when she’s finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English – and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen – a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and confined to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie’s world shrinks because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger and she comes to understand how fragile life is, how vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and the power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times.
On March 18, 2019, we hosted the Family Read Celebration at Riverside Arts Center and were thrilled to meet Ruth and hear her speak about her family’s experience adjusting to life in the United States and how it felt to be confined to bed for such a long period of time. Aron Kaufman gave kids a chance to play Cuban rhythms on percussion instruments, we displayed colorful kids’ artwork created at library programs, and the evening ended with everyone taking the stage for cha-cha lessons with Laura Geldys of Dance Revolution, bringing the book to life.
See all event photos on YDL’s Flickr!
We Drummed!
Before Ruth spoke, kids made music with Aron Kaufman.
We danced!
After Ruth spoke, everyone took the stage and learned to dance the cha-cha, just like in the book.
We met Ruth Behar and heard her speak!
Ruth read passages aloud from Lucky Broken Girl and talked about her real life experiences. Then she answered questions from the audience!
Stay tuned for a big announcement of our Fall 2019 Ypsi Family Read book and events!