Book Description

Maud and her cousins launch their kites deep into the heaven, from the lookout cliff in Montego, Jamaica. Their hope is with the hurricane wind forces of 1917, their kites will be washed up on the shores of Cuba. The experience of the lift and drag forces of the kites that Maud learned from the neighbor Andrew convinces her that kite flying is the way to contact her parents. Maud's grandmother, MamaJames, hasn't received a letter from her daughter and son-in-law for many years. The letters suddenly stop coming. Maud becomes worried that something is seriously wrong. Now eleven years old, Maud remembers the nurturing touch of her mother. The connection she misses so much she found comfort in her mother's pillow. Maud will sniff her mother's pillow and inhale the stained aroma of her mother's bosom embedded on the pillow. She longs for her mother. Anxiety is building up. The fear of losing her grandmother from her many illnesses and being alone frightens Maud. Eight years have passed since Ann and Jon, Maud's parents, left Jamaica to work on the tobacco plantation in Cuba. They have satisfied their work contract six years ago. The cargo ship and the interest of the plantation owners that brought them and other immigrants to Cuba refuse to grant them access to return to their homeland. Slavery ended, but the Negroes in both countries, Cuba and Jamaica, feel enslaved by the rigid conditions set forth by the White settlers and other lighter-complexioned Negroes. They fought back in their own way to preserve their dignity and happiness as they face many challenges. Maud misses her mother more than ever, and there are no more letters. She does the most miraculous thing: bringing her family together to fly kites. As the 1917 hurricane descends on the shores of Cuba days later, bringing torrential rain, and everything in the atmosphere is dumped on the shores of Cuba, Maud waits...