BEHAR, Ruth. Lucky Broken Girl. [NY]: Nancy Paulsen Books [2017]. 8vo, [x] 243pp. Navy boards with spine stamped in green. A fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket. Signed by the author, Ruth Behar!

First edition. 2018 Pura Belpre Award-winner! Based on acclaimed author Ruth Behar’s childhood, Lucky Broken Girl follows Ruthie Mizrahi, a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant who recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City with her family. 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 to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie’s world shrinks, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger as 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.