The Art of White Roses by Viviana Prado-Nunez is the 2017 winner of the Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature.
Thirteen year old Adela lives in the midst of a revolution in Cuba. She is not oblivious to the discord that is happening around her but as times go on more and more events are unexplained. First, a well-loved young lady goes missing, then Adela’s own cousin, Miguel survives a boom attack at the hotel where he works. However, nothing makes an impact as much as the devastation that unexpectedly hits her parent’s marriage. The family discovers that her father was having an affair with a prostitute. Before long that is the least of their problems.
Adela cannot forgive her father; she questions why her mother is tolerating him and his mistress. She focuses on solving another mystery with her brother and cousin Miguel and they are led to discover more than they bargained for. They find themselves in clear and present danger but their lives are spared because of the swift thinking of a guilt-riddled man, who is subsequently murdered by an unsuspecting hand.
The subplot and plot in The Art of White Roses were unpredictable and all led to a believable end. It is one of the more unique subject matters from the Burt Awards collection.