Lucky Broken Girl

By Ruth Behar

A young immigrant's dreams shatter after an accident, revealing life's fragility and unexpected resilience.

4.0/5 Goodreads · 5,164 ratings

272 pages· 49,919 words· Est. 5.5 hour read

$8.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Ruthie Mizrahi, a Cuban-Jewish immigrant in 1960s New York, faces a life-altering challenge when a car accident confines her to bed. As her world narrows, her heart and mind expand, uncovering life's fragility and the unexpected strength found in art and community. Can Ruthie find hope and healing in her new reality?

From the publisher

Winner of the 2018 Pura Belpre Award! “A book for anyone mending from childhood wounds.”–Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street In this unforgettable multicultural coming-of-age narrative–based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s–a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed. Ruthie’s plight will intrigue readers, and her powerful story of strength and resilience, full of color, light, and poignancy, will stay with them for a long time. Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City. Just when she’s finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English–and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen–a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and confined her to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie’s world shrinks because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger and she comes to understand how fragile life is, how vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and the power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times.