Chantel Acevedo

Maria Sirena tells stories. She does it for money - she was a favorite in the cigar factory where she worked as a lettora - and for love, spinning gossamer tales out of her own past for the benefit of friends, neighbors, and family. But now, like a modern-day Scheherazade, she will be asked to tell one last story so that eight women can keep both hope and themselves alive. Cuba, 1963. Hurricane Flora, one of the deadliest hurricanes in recorded history,...

"Frank Fernandez's family never stays in one place for long. His parents renovate unusual buildings and turn them into homes, which means the family moves-a lot. This makes it hard for bookish Frank to make friends. So when his parents announce they're moving to Spectacle Key, Florida, to live in a lighthouse-this time for good!-Frank is thrilled. But Spectacle Key isn't the perfect forever home they'd imagined. The lighthouse is falling apart. There...