Engle, Margarita. 2008. SURRENDER TREE: POEMS OF CUBA’S STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 6805086749
2. PLOT SUMMARY/CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is a verse novel that is based on actual events and historical figures of the late 1800s. At this time Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People are being placed into concentration camps with little food and poor living conditions. Illness is running wild through the camps affecting many people. A freed slave, Rosa, is a nurse who helps anyone that is able to reach her. She turns hidden caves into hospitals in order to help anyone who might need her assistance. She doesn’t care who they are she simply wants to do her best to help.
Engle’s use of poetry in this novel brings out many of the trials and tribulation Cuba was going through at that time. Rosa was a remarkable healer to anyone who needed help. The book shows her to be a remarkable individual who refused to become simply a victim of her time. The author uses different points of view to tell the story which adds more depth and interest to the book and to its reader. Even though the poems are being told by other people they all have a commonality and that is Rosa.
This is a great multicultural book that can add a great deal of knowledge to anyone. The verses are written in such a way that the reader almost feels as if they are in Cuba going throgug the same trials and tribulation as these people. This is a great book to make readers aware of what is going on or has gone on in other parts of the world. It will also make readers appreciate how fortunate we are for the freedoms we have here in America.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
* Starred review in BOOKLIST: “Engle writes her new book in clear, short lines of stirring free verse. Caught by the compelling narrative voices, many readers will want to find out more.”
*SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “The Surrender Tree is hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba's troubled past through the poetry of hidden moments such as the glimpse of a woman shuttling children through a cave roof for Rosa's care or the snapshot of runaway Chinese slaves catching a crocodile to eat.”
*HORN BOOK: “A powerful narrative in free verse . . . haunting.”
*KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Young readers will come away inspired by these portraits of courageous ordinary people.”
5. Exemplary or Favorite Lines
*“If we knew how to find the lost, we would know how to rediscover the parts of our minds left behind in battle.”
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