Pedro M. Gonzalez was born and raised in Cuba, where he studied English and became a teacher. His experiences both as a student and teacher in the new schools designed by the communist government to brain wash the nation's youth are summarized in this novel. In 1994, fed up with the regime, he decided to risk his life in a home-made raft in an attempt to make it to the US. After three days at sea and a year in a refugee camp in Guantanamo Naval Base, he finally made it to the US in the summer of 1995.