Having recently read Engle's Silver People (which I loved) for a Mock Newbery committee, I was really excited to get a chance to read an advanced digital copy of Enchanted Air.
Margarita Engle's upcoming memoir is told in verse about her experience growing up half Cuban during the Cold war and experiencing the backlash of the Cuban missile crisis. Her moving story discusses cultural differences, family relationships, and what it feels like to grow up away from the place you feel connected to.
Two ideas that she covers are women's rights and racism. I really like how she dealt with these issues. She talks about what is expected as a girl, and laments the fact that she is not allowed to do some of the same things as her boy cousins. The scene that stuck out the most to me was about race. She is going to get a drink from a water fountain and sees two separate fountains with signs saying "colored" and "white". She doesn't understand the signs, so she takes a drink out of both fountains, just to be sure. =)
Her story reads easily in verse, similar to her other book Silver People, which really does her story justice and adds to the sentiment of the book. You really get a sense of how she felt growing up. I do not think there is a need for too much background information about the Cold War. She summarizes the events as she brings them up in the story, but also has a helpful timeline in the back.
I highly recommend this book.
Engle, Margarita. Enchanted Air. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. August 2015.
Thank you to the publisher for my DRC!
Margarita Engle's upcoming memoir is told in verse about her experience growing up half Cuban during the Cold war and experiencing the backlash of the Cuban missile crisis. Her moving story discusses cultural differences, family relationships, and what it feels like to grow up away from the place you feel connected to.
Two ideas that she covers are women's rights and racism. I really like how she dealt with these issues. She talks about what is expected as a girl, and laments the fact that she is not allowed to do some of the same things as her boy cousins. The scene that stuck out the most to me was about race. She is going to get a drink from a water fountain and sees two separate fountains with signs saying "colored" and "white". She doesn't understand the signs, so she takes a drink out of both fountains, just to be sure. =)
Her story reads easily in verse, similar to her other book Silver People, which really does her story justice and adds to the sentiment of the book. You really get a sense of how she felt growing up. I do not think there is a need for too much background information about the Cold War. She summarizes the events as she brings them up in the story, but also has a helpful timeline in the back.
I highly recommend this book.
Engle, Margarita. Enchanted Air. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. August 2015.
Thank you to the publisher for my DRC!