In an engrossing historical novel, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Bridge to Terabithia 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.

• Also a rich and inspiring coming-of-age story about self-reliance for teenagers today, many of whom have been awoken by recent current events to a sense of their own potential civic power and responsibility.

• Based on the real-life experiences of former brigadistas, including in-person interviews that Katherine conducted, this enthralling fictional account sheds light on a little-known but absolutely fascinating chapter in the history of Cuba and the whole Western Hemisphere.

• Katherine Paterson is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature; a two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award; creator of Bridge to Terabithia, which was a major feature film; a Hans Christian Andersen Medalist; and winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her works are translated and beloved worldwide.