Little Lad: A Tale Of Love And Liberty

Little Lad is the story of Elian Gonzalez's voyage from Cuba to America. He arrived on the shores of America on Thanksgiving Day, 1999. He was torn sobbing from his refuge on Easter weekend, 2000. Americans of all kinds continue to weep for this child and all children who suffer in repressive conditions.

This book dramatizes this important teachable moment of recent history. Elian Gonzalez voyage has come to symbolize the struggle of many Cubans who are still longing for the freedom to develop their God given ability in freedom. From a description of conditions in Cuba that led to a decision on the part of his mother and other friends to try to cross to America braving the ocean between Cuba and America in a small boat to the struggle in a storm, the capsizing of the boat, the fighting off of sharks and the rescue by dolphins and finally some fishermen, this story has all the drama of such an endeavor as well as the final arrival in America. It helps us all to realize once more what freedom really means or should mean to those of us blessed to live in this land of freedom called America.

Ruth Spierenburg has provided for the wellness of children her entire life. She was a teacher for six years, teaching kindergarten, first and second grade students in Michigan as well as the Netherlands. She became a pediatrician and held a private practice in Teaneck, New Jersey for over 30 years. For the last 12 years, Ruth has practiced medicine in her native state of Iowa. Many of her patients through the years came from Cuba and spoke of the desperate plight of their relatives in Cuba. Ruth is passionate about the plight of the people of Cuba. She understands that tyrannical oppression exists in the world but that it can be defeated. Her husband Marinus was born near Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the day that the city was bombed and attacked by the Nazis. He lived under Nazi Occupation for the first five years of his life and remembers liberation day vividly. People were laughing and crying with joy.