It's Cuba.

In the summer of 1980 the government has just announced it will open the Port of Mariel for all who want to leave.

But choosing to leave comes at a huge price.

Some will pay with their lives.

I'm Ann Bocock, and welcome to "Between the Covers."

Awardwinning author Christina Diaz Gonzalez is with me today.

Her latest book is "The Bluest Sky."

The backdrop is Cuba, summer of 1980 and the Mariel Boat Lift.

Welcome, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you so much, Ann.

You know, this book and you in your writing have received such praise, such recognition.

You have young adult books, graphic novels and you're really good at connecting with that middle school child.

So what is the secret sauce?

How do you do this?

I think you just write for the audience in general not for a particular age.

You have a story you want to tell.

It's a book that I wish I could read, doesn't exist, so I write it.

And you never talk down to a child.

Children are very discerning.

And I like to think that my books are not only for the middle school age child, but for adults, for anyone who wants to connect with these characters and the story in general.

Well, I a hundred percent agree with you.

I loved the book I, there was no talking down at all.

I enjoyed it.

I know that the young adults will enjoy it as well.

And honestly, if you can reach that audience who have a lot of other distractions on the internet and computers and everything else, I mean, you've hit a home run.

And we all know that how reading, how important it is.

So thank you for that.

And I wanna get into this, "The Bluest Sky."

It's historical fiction.

I'm gonna guarantee that if this was a middle school audience, they've never heard of this before.

And what happens in this story, it evolves in a very short time span.

So if we could do just a little history lesson here.

Take us back to the summer of 1980.

Well, at the beginning of the summer of 1980 there was already political turmoil in Cuba.

It was starting to become a pressure cooker.

People were starting to become fed up with the communist regime, the lack of freedoms and it was starting to boil over.

And so in order to squash this possible uprising, the Castro regime at that moment decided, well, we'll release a little bit of this pressure by opening up the Port of Mariel, and if you want to leave and you can get someone to come pick you up we will let you go.

Up to that point and even after the Port of Mariel closed in order to leave Cuba, you needed government permission which was not readily given.

And so all of a sudden, it was a way to get the people who were unhappy and not satisfied with the status quo out of the island in addition to taking people that Cuba deemed undesirable out of the island as well.

The story unfolds through a child's eyes.

It's Hector and who doesn't fall in love with Hector?

He is a sweet boy.

He's intelligent.

His biggest worries right now are his grades in the math competition that's coming up.

He's got his first crush but his world is changing really fast.

And I'd like to look at his family.

Talk about his family please.

Well, it's interesting because yes, Hector is living the life the only life he's ever known in Cuba living under the communist regime.

And his family understands how to play the game that especially his mother, his mother knows that outside of the home, you have to portray yourself as a supporter of the regime.

Inside in secret, perhaps you can say what you truly believe but there's an interesting connection with his mother which many readers will not easily see until about halfway through the book.

My very first novel, "The Red Umbrella," took place in 1960.

It's right at the beginning of the Communist Revolution.

And it's a story of a young girl named Lucia and how she comes to the US through Operation Pedro Pan.

Well, Lucia has a best friend named Yvette who their friendship is torn apart because of differing ideologies of what happens between their parents.

And then in "The Bluest Sky," you discover that the mother Hector's mother is Yvette.

Is Yvette.

So now it's 20 years later and she is a mother herself.

And you find out that perhaps things that we believed in one book didn't really come to pass as we had thought.

In any way, does Hector's story come from stories that your family told you?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, my family is Cuban and my parents came to the US through Operation Pedro Pan as chronicled in "The Red Umbrella."

But other members of my family, my greatgrandmother my greatuncle, his family, very dear friends of ours all came to the US through Mariel.

So when it came time to start writing this story of course I wanted to talk to them, get information, get little nuances of their experience and try to weave it into Hector's story to make it as authentic as possible.

You've just said that this is the second time that we've had children leaving Cuba to come to the United States, and that was "The Red Umbrella."

I why did you, or did you always know that there would be this second story?

Absolutely not.

Really?

I really didn't think I was going to write this particular book.

When I wrote "The Red Umbrella," it was over 12 years ago.

I thought that was it, that was the story.

It was a standalone book.

I would speak to people and they would ask me, "Well, what happens next?

What happens to these characters?"

And I would say, "Well, now they live in your imagination."

You get to decide what will happen.

And it wasn't until I went to school and a child was asked a question and they posed a question about Yvette and whether Yvette in "The Red Umbrella" was really trying to break apart that friendship or perhaps there was another reason she wrote the letter.

And that got me thinking.

So thanks to a young student who came up with this idea of, well maybe I don't wanna follow the two characters from "The Red Umbrella," but Yvette has something to say.

Well, Cuba is the only home that Hector knows.

Have you been to Cuba?

I have not been to Cuba.

I hope to one day be able to go to a free Cuba.

And I know it's a difficult decision especially for Cuban Americans.

I am very curious to see where my parents grew up all the stories I've heard about the beaches, about their hometowns, but mainly out of respect for them and not wanting to lend support to the communist regime that they fled from, I haven't been able to go.

And the reason I ask is because your writing is so lovely and there is this sense of place where I who have not also not been to Cuba, I can visualize this.

So yes, you are a very good, wonderful writer because we feel the landscape.

Well, so you have heard stories about these places?

Absolutely and one of the best compliments I received was from a gentleman who is Cuban and had traveled extensively throughout the island.

And some of the places that I describe, even in "The Red Umbrella," I name a city called Puerto de Mijares.

He had spent days looking for it on a map because he was sure he had visited the town and he just couldn't find it.

And I had to confess that I made it up that it was a compilation of different stories of different places that I had been told about.

So I really did try to talk to as many people as I could.

There's a line in the book about pretending to be someone or something that you are not, and then you go on to say that sometimes you forget who you really are.

That's really powerful.

Do you wanna talk about that in relation to Hector's story?

Well, I think for, in relation to Hector's story it's trying to make others believe one thing.

When you truly something else and you have questions.

But I think it resonates with everyone.

I think it's a powerful statement because I think we all put a facade and have a persona, an outward persona.

And what we see sometimes superficially is not who we truly are.

And I think that's what really resonates.

And what crosses the boundaries of historical fiction becoming something much more contemporary that people today can relate to.

Absolutely, I do believe that a 100% in the book Hector and his friends it's a complex situation because everyone appears to be obeying the rules.

But there is so much in here that goes on beneath the surface.

You are explaining this through individual characters.

It is not black and white.

There's a myriad of gray here.

And I think that will really appeal to the younger readers, don't you?

Absolutely, I certainly hope so.

I hope it appeals to all readers.

It's a matter of peeling back the onion.

That's it.

And just getting layers and layers.

And just like Hector has this persona at the beginning as you read more of the book, you start seeing more and more of him, of his best friend, Dale, Isabel, his twin sister.

Even the parents, you start understanding perhaps the nuances of their life.

There's a scene where Hector's grandmother has made a comment about the next door neighbor's house being in disrepair.

And there's a whole lot more to this particular scene as to what is going on in Cuba at the moment.

And if you could be so kind as to set this up and read that paragraph, when she sees what has happened, I think it's the steps we're falling apart it.

And you've set that up for us.

Yes, yes.

If you would.

So the situation is that Hector is going over to his friend's house, and the grandmother is a little disappointed in the state of disrepair of their home, that they're not keeping up the appearance at least the outward appearance of their home.

But the situation is such that they can't, that they don't have the means nor the ability to keep up the appearance.

And so the comment is made of, how can this be?

And would you like me to read a little bit of that?

I would love to.

Abuela like everyone else knew that most Cubans had little or no access to supplies.

The American embargo had made getting things difficult.

So what we did have usually came from the Soviet Union and they didn't send a lot of construction materials.

Plus even when they did, no one could get them except for the ritzy tourist hotels that regular Cubans couldn't visit.

Those places were reserved for foreigners.

There were two Cubas, the one that the tourists saw and the one we lived in.

I guess it was the same way mama had taught us to lead our lives, always pretending for others.

Always pretending for others.

A lot said in that one paragraph really a little history lesson for all of us, the grandmother that we're talking about Abuela she was a really interesting character.

She had status, however, her ideology and her daughters were at odds.

Was this really interesting to write?

It was, and it was a continuation again from those two characters in the other book in "The Red Umbrella" where Abuela was a diehard communist, true believer and had risen through the ranks and by rising through the ranks of the communist system, now she had privileges and she had access to things that other Cubans did not.

And so the daughter, Mamai, in this book Yvette, she was not a supporter of the system but she was a beneficiary because her mother was.

And so, that started becoming at odds with the two of them.

And again, Yvette has the appearance of supporting but her mother knows the truth yet her mother doesn't want to even admit that her daughter might be against the revolution.

It was a very interesting chapter to get at that moment.

There is some really suspenseful stuff in this book.

There are a few nail biting scenes.

And there one that I'm thinking of.

And I'm not gonna spoil anything because I do want people to read this book.

Children are caught up in a situation where there is a demonstration, a protest it gets out of hand and it leads to a very, a violent scene.

And I'm reading this and I'm thinking in some ways this could be what happens today.

It felt very current.

Absolutely, I mean, we saw it just recently with S.O.S.

Cuba and protests just a short while back and how the government tries to squash it and make sure it doesn't happen.

And children are expected to be a part of it.

These actos de repudio, repudiation acts that occur, children just neighbors, everyone is expected to attend.

And if you don't attend, that is seen as a very negative mark against you and your family.

So the fact that children are expected to be there and one of them in the book goes off and isn't quite as violent as the other one.

But you never know when you get a mob outside and rile them up, you never know what will happen.

In the book, friendships are tested.

And I think this is really gonna resonate with a lot of younger people that read this book because there are many questions.

What would you do for a friend?

How far would you go?

Would you keep secrets if you thought it was dangerous?

Yeah and it's interesting I think also what secrets do you choose to keep?

Sometimes the keeping of secrets is to protect your front to not have them be a part of what you and your family might be doing.

I think that is evident with one of his teachers that he considers to be such a mentor for him.

And then he feels almost betrayed until he realizes that her keeping certain secrets from him was to protect him.

I feel such desperation from some of these characters.

And then you don't have to go very far.

You can just look at the news any day and you see what's happening at the borders and people that are desperate to leave a particular country to come here.

This may have happened in 1980, but it's current as well.

A absolutely, and it happens, I think, in our border in other borders, people fleeing wars, fleeing oppressive regimes, fleeing for economic reasons.

There's always a sense of desperation when someone chooses to abandon their homeland, to leave everything you have behind is not an easy decision to make.

And so that was one of the things I really wanted to express in the book, because as a child, you are not privy to making those decisions.

The adults are making those decisions for you.

But children who leave grow up very fast because they are participants in leaving everything behind.

And so I wanted to have that conflict that turmoil within Hector and his friends as well as with the adult surrounding them.

You write various kinds of books and mysteries.

You won an Edgar Award, congratulations.

Thank you.

You also have another new book, which happens to be a graphic novel, which is a whole different thing.

And this one, I think in particular is very interesting.

Am I correct, all the characters are Hispanic?

Correct, it's the easiest way I like to describe it is the Breakfast Club sat in middle school.

Okay.

With five very different personalities.

You have the brain, the athlete, the loner, the rich kid and the tough kid, but they're all Hispanic backgrounds and with different levels of English and Spanish fluencies.

Some are recent arrivals and speak no English.

Some have been born here and have trouble expressing themselves in Spanish.

But they're grouped together.

And again, it shows that how different people can come together and become friends for a common good.

Something happens in the story where, again, secrets may or may not be revealed, and they have to decide whether they will reveal those secrets in order to help someone else.

Or if the title of the book is invisible, if remaining invisible is the only way to survive middle school.

And I love the graphic novel format which was illustrated by Gabriela Epstein and it just brings it to life.

It's in English and Spanish and the art itself is another language as well.

I am a fan of graphic novels.

I absolutely don't care what any kid reads as long as they're reading.

And so, congratulations on that book as well.

Did you do this because you thought perhaps that was an overlooked segment?

Absolutely, I was born in the US, my parents made the decision of not teaching me English until I started school.

So I still remember my wonderful first teacher, Ms. Sisk, not understanding her, but I felt safe.

And I remember just kind of starting to feel a little lost.

But I knew I was protected in school and I learned English relatively quickly.

But later on when I became an author, I started looking around and I would visit a lot of schools and speak to some of these recent arrival kids who were just starting to learn English.

And I'd speak to them in Spanish.

And they were so frustrated about being given books that were picture books, that were bilingual and they didn't really have a book.

They loved graphic novels which were more reflective of their age but they were all in either English or all in Spanish nothing that highlighted them or both languages.

And so I knew that maybe I was the one to bridge that gap.

And beautifully illustrated, we can give credit to her.

Beautifully.

Let's go on with this a little bit because we are in an era where children's books and reading material is being highly scrutinized, sometimes banned.

So as an author of books that will be on middle school shelves, I want your thoughts on that.

I am obviously very much against banning of books.

This is something.

And did you care what your kids read at this age?

No, I mean, I wanted them reading.

Obviously as a parent, you want, and even as a librarian you want to curate your collection to make it appropriate for children.

But at the same time you want to give them the freedom to read.

Those books need to be accessible with guidance from parents.

Absolutely, but it's so important to have accessibility to all books.

In Cuba, you don't, I approach that in "The Bluest Sky."

You did.

That you reading "Animal Farm" is something that is against the government's policy.

And you have to read it in secret because that book has been banned.

And that is not what we are about in this country.

We are not about banning books.

We're about freedom.

And freedom requires freedom of access to all books.

And I will say that I loved this book.

I thought this story was wonderful and I am not a middle schooler, but it would be a great book for a family to read together because there are a lot of questions and a lot of history that children could learn from.

In the few minutes that we have left I would like to learn a little more about you if that's okay.

I've interviewed dozens of authors who started in law, as did you.

[Christina] Yes.

Most of them write legal thrillers.

You went in a whole different direction.

So one, why the switch and why did you decide this path?

I think I, it wasn't even a switch from legal thrillers to middle grade fiction.

I've always loved middle grade fiction.

It was that time in my life.

I was probably, I was a young reader, an early reader.

I read a lot and I remember thinking of stories of my own and envisioning one day having my name on the cover of a book but I had never met a writer, never met an author and it didn't seem like something people like me would do.

I grew up in a very small southern town and it just was something that dream I put away as something not practical.

And it wasn't until I had kids of my own and my oldest started reading and he loved to read that it reignited that dream.

And that dream took me right back to where I had stashed it away back in middle school.

And those were the books I loved.

So those were the stories I wanted to write.

What were the kinds of books that you gravitated to when you were a kid?

Oh, I loved so much.

And again, it goes back to freedom of being able to read so many different types of books.

I loved the Archie comics.

I loved historical fiction.

I really read went first through mysteries.

Nancy Drew Mysteries were my goto.

And then a wonderful librarian convinced me, possibly bribe me with a little extra credit for class to read "A Wrinkle in Time."

And I fell in love with the concept of science fiction and it opened up the world of all different genres.

So I started reading so many different books and just fell in love with reading all over again.

In the seconds that we have left, what would you tell your younger self?

Keep that dream of being a writer alive, even if you're not going to pursue it as a career just yet, keep the idea at hand and keep writing and reading those books that you love so much.

"The Bluest Sky" is exciting, it's heartbreaking.

It is such a good story.

And my takeaway from the book is hope.

Thank you for that.

Christina Diaz Gonzalez, this has been such a pleasure.

Thank you for sharing your time with me.

Thank you so much, Ann.

I'm Ann Bocock.

Please join me on the next, "Between The Covers."