A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey: Book Review

A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is the most recent book from Laura Taylor Namey. Released in November 2020 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, a branch of Simon and Schuster, we are introduced to Lila Reyes as she learns to deal with love and loss. Reese Witherspoon named A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow as her YA Book Club pick for November 2020.

I should mention there are content warnings for the book. Some topics discussed include death, grief, loss of relationships, homesickness, mental health, and early-onset dementia. There is also some drinking by the main characters, as the drinking age in England is 18. Drinking does not happen a lot, but it is there, even by those who are 15 and 16.

Synopsis

How much can one girl handle? Her grandmother passes away suddenly in March, her boyfriend of 3 years dumps her a few days before prom, her best friend informs Lila she is moving to Africa to do missionary work for 2 years. Lila Reyes has a lot to deal with her. Her plans are all changing; the summer after high school was supposed to be fun before taking over the family business. She breaks and goes for a run—a 20-mile run without informing her family of her plans.

Once she has recovered from her run, her parents decide what she needs is a break from Miami and send her to Winchester, England, for the summer. Just what she needs, 3 months in a new location, away from everything bothering her.

England isn’t what Lila wants or thinks she needs. It isn’t Miami-it’s cold, there’s no Cuban food, and she doesn’t know anyone there. Then she meets Orion Maxwell and his friends. She comes to realize that maybe England isn’t so bad. What happens, though, when her parents tell her, she’s able to come home early?

Positives

This is a quick read, even at just over 300 pages. I will admit, I listened to the audiobook, and that was just over 8.5 hours long. No matter how you read this, it will go by quickly.

Lila Reyes is a spunky teenager. Some may think she’s a bit bratty, but they forget she’s only 17 and has just had her whole life upended. As the book progresses, Lila matures and realizes she doesn’t have to be so bossy. The rest of the characters are just as well written.

Negatives

For me, one of the bigger issues is the casual drinking by underage kids. I know it happens; trust me, I know. But maybe this is the mom in me that has an issue with a 16 and 17-year-old drinking while at the pub. Even if the drinking age is 18, that doesn’t excuse the younger teens drinking.

While listening to the audiobook, I found the narrator had some interesting inflections when reading the dialogue from the English characters. At times she was making them sound a bit posher than they truly are. On the other side, at least she didn’t give them accents to seem uneducated or unintelligent.

My Opinions

I enjoyed listening to the story of Lila Reyes and seeing her growth and development over her summer in England. Many reviews I read took issue with her attitude about being sent to England for a break. So many people were upset she didn’t want to “sit back and relax.” She is 17, she just lost 3 people who were very important to her, and her family sent her halfway around the world. If I were in her situation, I would probably have had an attitude problem as well.

Another issue mentioned in reviews that I read was the way Stephanie’s location was referred to. Lila kept saying she was in Africa and not a specific country. Is it possible in her argument with Stephanie, Lila never really heard where she was going? Did Stephanie even know where she was going? Yes, it is wrong that the author referred to Africa more than a specific country, as she did with England, but maybe she was trying to write this from the point of view of an angry teen?

The same could be said for many of how she described Ghana, where Stephanie was doing mission work. Some people took issue with reference to the lack of wifi, electricity, etc. No country is 100% connected to those “basics.” Even the conversation they have at the end of the book makes it seem as though Stephanie isn’t in a city or highly populated area.

I enjoyed the book for what it is, a story, a work of fiction. One that gave me a look into a different person’s life. The author even states that she based some of Lila’s experiences on her own, read about that here.

Looking for some more books to read? Check out my other book reviews and my monthly reading wrap-ups.