A Pure Belpre Award-Winning Author
Winged beings are meant to be free. And so are artists, but the Cuban government has criminalized any art that doesn't meet their approval. Soleida and her parents protest this injustice with their secret sculpture garden of chained birds. Then a hurricane exposes the illegal art, and her parents are arrested. Soleida escapes to Central America, joining the thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica while seeking asylum elsewhere. There she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose music enchants birds and animals - and Soleida. Together they work to bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba. Soon they discover that love isn't about falling - it's about soaring together to new heights.