Lucky Broken Girl

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What do you know about the general topic of Cuba? List points of information, facts, images, geographical knowledge, or historical events or figures in connection to this country. Brainstorm a list of 8-10 points; then circle the 3-4 points about which you are the most certain. If you cannot list 8-10 points, instead write questions that ask for specific information about Cuba that you do not know.

Teaching Suggestion: Students may come up with a wide variety of informative points, from simple island images to Cuba’s Communist government to its immigrant and refugee conflicts. From social studies classes, student may know the name Fidel Castro. Don’t be alarmed if students come up with little to no information. Depending on the grade level, their questions may be as simple as “Where is Cuba?” or “What happened in the Cuban Revolution?” or “Why couldn’t Americans travel to Cuba for so long?” Explain that in Lucky Broken Girl, the main character and her family recently emigrated from Cuba because a political takeover curtailed their freedoms. Many other Cubans also came to the US in several “waves” of immigration. Some of Ruthie’s family members miss Cuba very much. Students might benefit from small group research to expand on their points and questions before reading; they will find historical points that support the novel’s theme of Loss of Freedom and Independence. Here are some sites of interest:

• “Crossing the Straits” is a brief Library of Congress article on the history of immigration from Cuba to the US.
• This page from the Cuban Studies Institute offers a detailed chronology of Cuba and its major historical events to help place events like Ruthie’s family’s immigration within the context of Cuba’s turmoiled political history.

Short Activity

Ruthie lives in an apartment building in a neighborhood of the borough of Queens in New York City; her story takes place in 1966 and 1967. Consider some photographs of Queens in the 1960s. What details and image elements can you find that show differences between that time period and today? What information can you infer, or what suppositions can you make, about daily life (in terms of transportation, clothing, businesses, signage, etc.) based on the photographs’ details? What evidence can you find in the photos of immigrant populations in Queens in this time period? Work in small groups to compile your answers; then share your answers with the class.

Teaching Suggestion: You may want to choose only select photos from the link below or others that you find to share with students. Explain that for long months at a time, main character Ruthie will be mostly immobile and bedridden, unable to venture outdoors; she must use her memories of the streets and buildings when she thinks about going outside. These photos may help students to see the kinds of images Ruthie recalls in her memory. Point out interesting time-period differences in clothing style, vehicles, architecture, and advertisements.

• This site offers color photos of Queens, New York in the 1960s.