Author Description

Big dreams of living in the United States! Hope arrives in Miami with dreams of living with a glamorous aunt which she knew only from old pictures that her family shared with her in Cuba. However, her dreams of living with a Hollywood movie star are soon shattered when she finds out that the photograph of Tía Lela is old, very old. Hope longs to be a typical American girl and fit in at school, but that proves difficult as Tía Lela still lives in a very Cuban world. Tía Lela does not even approve of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Laugh out loud as you follow young Hope as she adjusts to life in a new school, in a new country, in a new language.Readers are sure to recognize a little bit of someone they know in each of the colorful characters in the book: Tía Lela: the great matriarch who still follows the customs and traditions of old Cuba. El Viejo Ojeda: the lonely gardener who wrestles the garden hose to the ground every afternoon. Señora Lopez: the mysterious woman who rides the bus each day at the same time yet no one knows where she goes. Lola la Candela: Hope's older cousin is on the lookout for husband number four and may just find him around the next corner. Mrs. Cohen: the wealthy woman who pretends she does not speak Spanish. Mari Carmen: the nosy neighbor who spends all day sweeping the same spot in front of her home so that she does not miss any of the neighborhood gossips. And then there is Hope, a sweet young girl who loves her family but is trapped between two cultures. Is there hope for this young girl? Yes, there is.....Hope in Miami.