Yara Garcia is a recent immigrant. Her diary shares the last few months in their native country and the first year as exiles in Florida. Her father says en exile is somebody who no longer has a home in any country... They chose to come to America to flee from Castro, but for the parents, the father especially, there is the desire to return to the homeland. Yara is a good student and realizes she can make it in math as the numbers mean the same thing even if the method of reaching the correct answer is a little different for her and other kids from Cuba than for the American kids. Unfortunately, they weren't allowed to bring much with them when the took the flight to freedom and the donated clothing marks her as an immigrant which makes other students feel free to tease. While it takes some time to learn English, Yara has decided to be the top student to show the others who are making fun of her because of her clothing that she is somebody.
A classmate who is only 14 gets a job when her mother is hospitalized. She is living with her grandparents and younger brother, but she NEEDS to help the family survive financially, even if it means lying to her boss about her age and letting school assignments slip...
At the end of the story Yara and her mother are ready to plan for her quinceanera (in a year) but the father is still insisting that they will be HOME by then. Yara's grandparents and her uncle's family had already been in Miami for a few years before Yara's family arrived, so though they also would like to go HOME, they know it isn't likely to happen soon. The grandfather is afraid he will die before he sees his homeland again. ( )

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