Oprah's Book Club (Official) > Photos > Waiting on Zapote Street

On April 26, 1980, my mother, my siblings, and I boarded a shrimp boat off the coast of Havana with over two hundred people. That stormy evening, many men, women, and children perished on overloaded boats similar to ours. I was fifteen years old then. This trip was intended to reunite us with my father in the United States after almost twelve years of separation. My mother passed away in 2011. This book fulfills my promise to her that I would tell her story. "Waiting on Zapote Street" was selected by a United Nations book club this year for its February reading and received excellent ratings. It has sold in more than five countries, including U.S, Germany, the UK, and Canada. I hope the organizers do not view this as self-promotion. I am donating 100% of the paperback version sales during the month of September to the Hillsborough Community College Foundation to honor my mother.