Around the World: Cuba - Tito's Story

From the outside, Cuba looks like a postcard. For fourteen-year-old Tito, it's a daily fight to survive.

In Around the World: Cuba, readers meet a teenager growing up under a government that rations food, silences dissent, and punishes anyone who dares speak the truth out loud. Tito hustles to help support his family while chasing a dream that feels almost impossible under the regime: becoming a professional boxer. With guidance from his sister Carolina, Tito starts to understand what freedom actually costs—and what it means to fight for it, in the ring and in life.

Told through a story middle and high schoolers can connect with, this book doesn't lecture about communism in the abstract. It shows what central planning and one-party rule do to real families, real dreams, and real futures—while celebrating the resilience of the Cuban people who never stopped hoping for something better.

Around the World is PragerU's flagship series for young readers, exploring big, complex ideas (communism, energy needs, freedom of speech) through relatable characters and honest, age-appropriate storytelling. Each title is built to spark real conversation between kids 6th grade and up, and the adults raising them.

Ideal for:

• Parents looking to explain communism and authoritarianism in terms a teenager can grasp
• Grandparents seeking values-driven gifts for tweens and teens
• Teachers and homeschool educators building history or civics curriculum around real-world case studies

Pair with the rest of the Around the World series for a full library of lessons on freedom, resilience, and what makes America unique.