Sometimes I Would Like to Sit Down and Cry: Memoirs

It’s no wonder that Amarilis Presilla has titled her memoir “Sometimes I Would Like to Sit Down and Cry.” Reminiscing can be painful when she thinks back on all the hardships she has known—not just within her family but for the Cuban people as well. Since arriving in the United States from Cuba seven years ago, Amarilis has written it all down, reliving both the good and the bad.

Her idyllic childhood in the riverside village of Mayari was not to last. A powerful flood laid waste to her bel...