There it was on the globe, a dashed line of darker blue on the lighter blue Atlantic. Words in faint italic script: Tropic of Cancer. The adults told her to stop asking what it was, as if the dull reply they gave would satisfy: ‘A latitude, in this case twenty-three and a half degrees.’”
-- Everly (Prologue )

Importance: This first line of Telex from Cuba establishes both Everly Lederer’s characteristic curiosity and the exoticism that exemplifies the American attitude toward Cuba. Everly is thrilled by the family’s move to the island nation, a place which seems to have arisen straight out of her favorite book, Treasure Island. When she finds Cuba on a map, she immediately focuses on the clearest signifier of difference: The Tropic of Cancer. Everly instills this thin dashed line with a sense of mystery that seems absurd to the adults around her, yet her obsession mirrors their own...