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85 pages 2 hours read

Enrique Flores-Galbis

90 Miles to Havana

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-8

Reading Check

1. What does Julian’s father think will happen if Julian catches a fish on New Year’s Eve?

2. Why does Julian want to catch the fish?

3. Which three pictures does Bebo suggest Julian draw in order to understand a revolution?

4. What do Julian and his brothers trade for $10 at the Miami airport?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What news do Julian and his family learn on New Year’s Eve? Describe what they witness from their car.

2. Describe some of the immediate changes that Julian and his family experience in Chapter 3 after the start of the revolution.

3. Describe the journey of the swallow pin throughout this set of chapters. Why is it significant?

Paired Resource

“Cuban Revolution”

  • An overview from Britannica of the events surrounding the revolution in Cuba in 1959
  • Compare and contrast the changes that Julian and his family experience in the beginning of the revolution to those listed in the article.

Chapters 9-17

Reading Check

1. Where do Julian and his brothers stay in the US?

2. Which sport does Gordo take seriously?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In Chapter 11, Julian and his brother meet two people from their past. Identify these characters and describe what information Julian learns from them.

2. Describe Caballo and Dolores. Who are they and what do they do at the camp?

3. In Chapter 13, Julian and his brothers learn they will be sent to different parts of the US. Describe the plan that they come up with to avoid this separation.

4. What is the dilemma surrounding Julian’s drawing book? Describe the situation as well as the outcome.

Chapters 18-26

Reading Check

1. Where does Julian visit with Angelita and Pepe in Chapter 18?

2. What does Angelita compare Caballo to?

3. Where was Pepe sent?

4. What does Dolores suggest Julian and his companions do in order to oust Caballo?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In Chapter 20, Dolores gives Julian two things: a box of items and a piece of advice. Explain what these two items are.

2. Explain why Chapter 22 is titled “The Revolution.” What events occur in this chapter?

 

Paired Resource

“Life as an Undocumented Farm Worker”

  • An OpEd on Farmworker Justice about the present-day working conditions for undocumented workers in Florida
  • Consider the challenges that undocumented farm workers experience in the 21st century. Are these challenges similar to the working conditions that Julian witnessed in Florida? Explain.

Chapters 27-33

Reading Check

1. What does Lucia do with the money she earns?

2. Who is Julian finally able to reach on the phone in Cuba so he can give the code to his parents?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Julian want to go to Miami? Who does he see there and why?

2. Who is Armando and what does he do for Julian?

3. Describe Tomás’s secret plan. What does Julian ask of him?

Paired Resource

“Cuban Raft”

  •  A description from the National Museum of the American Latino of the rafts Cubans used to escape Cuba in the early 1990s
  • Although these rafts are from a different era than Julian’s, this description helps show that the “boat” is a pervasive symbol of escape for Cubans in the mid-20th century.

Chapters 34-41

Reading Check

1. Which physical characteristic makes Julian not trust Dog?

2. What item does Dog steal?

3. Who surprises Julian and Tomas at the dock in Havana?

4. Where is Julian headed in Chapter 40?

5. What does Julian receive in the mail from Tomás in Chapter 41?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. At the end of Chapter 36, Julian is almost captured. Describe who almost captures him and what happens to Julian at the end of the chapter.

Recommended Next Reads 

Raining Sardines by Enrique Flores-Galbis

  • Set in pre-revolutionary Cuba, the story follows Enriquito and Ernestina, who attempt to save a herd of rare horses from the wealthy landowner, Don Rigol.
  • Raining Sardines on SuperSummary

Refugee by Alan Gratz

  • The novel follows three teenagers on their journeys to becoming refugees, including a Jewish boy in the 1930s and a Syrian boy in 2015 as well as a girl from Cuba in the early 1990s.
  • Refugee on SuperSummary
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By Enrique Flores-Galbis