We Are Pan - An Evening with Andre Frattino

Family or freedom? Discover the astonishing history of the mass evacuation of Cuban children, leaving communism—and their loved ones—behind.

Tombolo Books welcomes award-winning graphic novelist Andre Frattino to the bookstore to celebrate his gorgeous nonfiction book, We Are Pan which chronicals Operación Pedro Pan, a joint effort between the U.S. government and the Catholic Welfare Bureau to evacuate 14,000 children from Cuba to the U.S. between 1960 and 1962.

These children (later referred to as “Pedro Pans”) would be distributed across the U.S., mostly living in foster homes. In many cases, these children never saw their families again, and their lives would be changed forever. This is their story.

Andre Frattino is an award-winning graphic novelist born and raised in the wilds of North Florida. He holds degrees from both the Savannah College of Art and Design and the University of Florida, the latter of which he served as a staff cartoonist for The Independent Florida Alligator, on the popular “Son of a Gator” comic strip. Other works include his graphic adaptation of Patrick Smith's beloved Florida classic A Land Remembered, the WWII biography Tokyo Rose: Zero Hour, Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Shapeshifter anthology and John Carpenter's Tales for a HalloweeNight Vol. 11. A self-appointed paranormal enthusiast and lover of historical fiction and nonfiction alike, Andre is a proponent of using the graphic novel form to share stories of the past to inspire the next generation. He currently resides in Savannah, Georgia, with his wife, daughter, a scruffy mutt and a half-dozen ravenous koi fish. Florida is never far from his heart.

We Are Pan is the culmination of years of research and interviews conducted in and around Miami with members of the Pedro Pan community. In this novel, Andre seeks to spotlight the experiences these children had coming from Cuba to Miami, and from there to all parts across the United States. This exodus profoundly changed their lives, and We Are Pan serves as an acknowledgement of their courage and resilience.