Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus - Hardcover

Mirta Ojito was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to the United States in 1980 in the Mariel boatlift. She has received the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Award for best foreign reporting, and she shared the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, for her contribution to the series "How Race Is Lived in America." Her work has appeared in several anthologies, including Written into History: Pulitzer Prize Reporting of the Twentieth Century from The New York Times, edited by Anthony Lewis. Ojito has taught journalism at New York University, Columbia University, and the University of Miami. She writes for The New York Times from Miami. Lewis. Ojito has taught journalism at New York University, Columbia University, and the University of Miami. She writes for The New York Times from Miami.

Adult/High School–For her first 16 years, Ojito was torn between loyalty to the Cuban Revolution and the desire of her parents to leave the country. At school, she learned to be a good Revolutionary child. Extensive dossiers were kept on each student and family; ideological zeal was essential when one's future was controlled by the state. In the neighborhood, block captains tried to force attendance at political assemblies. The girl's parents simply wanted the state to stop interfering in their personal lives. They worked hard to obtain illegal extras–including adequate food. In 1980, despite Ojito's ambivalence, the family left in the Mariel boat lift, a five-month exodus during which more than 125,000 Cubans arrived in Florida on small, overcrowded craft. The book alternates between the author's memoir and the stories of others whose actions influenced the boat lift, among them a Cuban American negotiating secretly for the release of Cuban political prisoners and the captain of the Mañana, which carried the Ojitos to Florida. The author gives a thoroughly researched account of events before, during, and after they left. Sometimes the narrative bogs down with unnecessary details. The strongest parts, with the most appeal for teens, are about growing up in Cuba, the warmth of family and friends, and the sudden departure and difficult trip into exile. Ojito's voice is honest throughout. She is critical of both governments and initially unimpressed by American culture. Above all, she advocates for the Marielitos, scorned as criminal scum by Castro and white Floridians alike.–Sandy Freund, Richard Byrd Library, Fairfax County, VA
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