Sugar and Dirt

Book excerpt: Sugar and Dirt is the inspiring coming-of-age story of a young émigré during one of the stormiest eras in recent American history. F.P. Romero's stirring memoirs begin in Cuba, where his affluent family loses everything to Fidel Castro's revolution and is forced to flee with scarcely more than the clothes on their backs. Having to start over in Miami, the family struggles with refugee life but resolves to pursue the American Dream. F.P. describes his idyllic years at the elite McCullough Academy, his departure from McCullough, and his startling descent into a world of violence and malice. His reckless decline into drug-fueled dissipation threatens to consume him until a girl and a chance discovery change his life forever. Told with a unique blend of wit, candor, and pathos, Sugar and Dirt recounts F.P.'s early life of privilege, his tragic fall from grace, and his hard-earned redemption. It is a story of true American reinvention.