In Cuba
How are the kitten in Havana and the character Isabel alike?
Both are hungry
Both are in need of a bath
Who are Isabel's neighbors who are building a boat in the shed?
The Castillos, Ivan's parents
What is the situation of Isabel's mother when they decide to go to the U.S.?
She is pregnant, and almost ready to have her baby?
Name six people who are on the boat with Isabel
The nine people on the boat are Isabel, her mother and father, her grandfather Lito, Senor and Senora Castillo, Ivan, Luis and Amara.
What happens when Ivan and Isabel are in the water?
Ivan is bitten by a shark
What is the reason Cubans are poor and hungry?
1. When the Soviet Union went away, the sugarcane fields had no one to pay for their product.
2. Without Russia's gas, Cubans couldn't run the tractors to plant the fields.
What does Isabel trade for two enormous jugs of gasoline for the boat?
She trades her trumpet?
What is the situation on the beach in Cuba as they take the boat to sea?
Many people are launching boats and rafts, television cameras are there, and lots of people.
Name a big problem Isabel and the people on the boat had at sea.
The boat's engine stops
The boat is almost hit by a tanker?
Senor Castillo falls into the water?
What do the people on the boat see as they bury Ivan in the sea?
They see the lights of Miami.
What does Isabel do to make money in Havana?
She plays the trumpet.
How does the leader of Cuba change the rules for people wanting to leave Cuba?
He suspends all obstacles, and says people may leave Cuba legally.
What is the identity of the two police officers who join Isabel and the others in the boat?
The two police officers are Luis, Ivan's brother, and Luis's girlfriend, Amara?
The work the people on the boat have to do constantly
What is bail the water out of the bottom of the boat?
What happens just as Isabel can see Miami?
A US Coast Guard vessel finds them.
What is the event that causes Isabel and her family to need to leave Cuba?
There is a riot in the streets of Havana.
Who is the leader of Cuba at the time of Isabel's story?
Cuba's leader is Fidel Castro.
What is the problem the police create for the boat?
The police shoot at their boat and put a bullet hole in the side of the boat.
What is the name of the country where they first see land?
The Bahamas
How do the people on the boat distract the Coast Guard so that they can get to the beach in Miami?
Isabel's grandfather Lito jumps in the water so that the Coast Guard has to rescue him first before getting to the boat.
What does Isabel call her parents?
She calls them Mami and Papi?
What is America's new policy about Cuban refugees?
The new policy is called Wet Foot, Dry Foot. If Cubans are caught at sea, they are sent to Guantanamo. If they manage to set foot on US soil, they are granted refugee status.
What is the distance from Havana to Miami, approximately?
From Havana to Miami is 90 miles.
The people on the pier in the place they first land do kind things for Isabel and the people on the boat. What do they do?
The people on the pier give them food and water and aspirin
What is the memento Isabel keeps to remind her of Ivan?
She keeps his Industriales baseball cap.