Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Red Umbrella | 2010 | Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Buy |
| 2 | A Thunderous Whisper | 2012 | Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Buy |
| 3 | Concealed | 2021 | Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Buy |
| 4 | The Bluest Sky | 2022 | Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Buy |
The Red Umbrella (2010) remains Gonzalez’s best-known novel and the one most widely taught in classrooms. It follows 14-year-old Lucia Alvarez, sent from Cuba to the United States alone under Operation Pedro Pan in 1961, navigating a new country without her parents. The historical grounding gives the story an emotional weight that has kept it in print and on reading lists for over a decade.
A Thunderous Whisper (2012) takes a Spanish Civil War setting, following a young girl in Guernica at the time of the bombing. Concealed (2021) is contemporary rather than historical, an Edgar Award-winning mystery that brought Gonzalez new recognition and the milestone of being the first Latina to win that prize’s juvenile category. The Bluest Sky (2022) followed shortly after, continuing her engagement with Cuban-American experience and identity.