Bibliographic Data: Engle, Margarita. 2008. The Surrender Tree: Poems’ of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 0805086749
Plot Summary:
For over forty years Cuba struggled to gain independence from Spain. This story is told in five parts, grouped by year, through poems. Rosa, the main character, is an herbal healer who goes out of her way to nurse any injured person back to health, rebel, enemy, or not. Due to this, the Spanish have a price on her head. Her husband, Jose, protects her. This is their story of struggle, strength, and the eventual gaining of what they had hoped for, freedom from Spain, but not in the way they had hoped.
Critical Analysis:
For so few words, this book of poems packs quite the punch. Margarita Engle masterfully conveys to readers the struggle of the Cubans fighting for independence. From little to no food, scant supplies to treat the wounded, and the will to stay positive against all odds, one cannot help but sympathize for these characters. The feelings of sorrow they convey from deep in the hollow parts of their bodies, where there is no food, love, or hope to fill, are immediately felt by the audience, as Engle uses few, and thoroughly thoughtful words to convey her message. This is hard. This will just get harder. We need to hold on. “Ten years of war. How many battles can one island lose (51)?”
The line which seems to most capture Rosa, the saintly nurse who uses whatever she can find to help whomever she can is said by her husband, José, “Rosa tells me she feels like one of those statues that hold up the roofs of old buildings (48).” She is actively trying to help, but just as her resources are in short supply, so to is her hope and motivation. It is hard taking care of everyone.
The way Engle describes Cuba, and Cuban culture is equally as visceral; “surrounded by jungle, walls of tree trunks, fences of thorns- (59)”. Her use of Spanish words, like “la Bayamesa”, “mambi”, “domingo”, “dios da”, “el medico”, “la madre”, “cimarrones”, “pesos” are interwoven in a manner where although you may not know what they mean, the context helps explain it. The Spanish never seems like an afterthought. It is always used in a manner that is intentional, and in nearly every case it reads like a song.
The best compliment I can give this book, is that once I put it down I immediately wanted to research Jose Marti , as Engle is very clear that he was influential.
Reviews:
School Library Journal- “An absolutely lovely book…that should be read by young and old, black and white, Anglo and Latino”.
Booklist- “Readers will hear the stories- and never forget them”.
Horn Book- “A work of literary imagination. Engle’s skillful portrait will spark reader’s interest in Manzano’s own poetry.”
Awards:
2009 Newbery Honor Book
2009 Pura Belpre Medal for Narrative
2009 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award
2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Connections:
This is an excellent grouping of poems to use to teach children to write in verse. There is not ubiquitous rhyming, simile, metaphor, there is simply feeling and thought, arranged carefully. It is important to show that poems do not always have to be conventional, and that they are just as wonderful for telling a story as narrative or short story.
Plot Summary:
For over forty years Cuba struggled to gain independence from Spain. This story is told in five parts, grouped by year, through poems. Rosa, the main character, is an herbal healer who goes out of her way to nurse any injured person back to health, rebel, enemy, or not. Due to this, the Spanish have a price on her head. Her husband, Jose, protects her. This is their story of struggle, strength, and the eventual gaining of what they had hoped for, freedom from Spain, but not in the way they had hoped.
Critical Analysis:
For so few words, this book of poems packs quite the punch. Margarita Engle masterfully conveys to readers the struggle of the Cubans fighting for independence. From little to no food, scant supplies to treat the wounded, and the will to stay positive against all odds, one cannot help but sympathize for these characters. The feelings of sorrow they convey from deep in the hollow parts of their bodies, where there is no food, love, or hope to fill, are immediately felt by the audience, as Engle uses few, and thoroughly thoughtful words to convey her message. This is hard. This will just get harder. We need to hold on. “Ten years of war. How many battles can one island lose (51)?”
The line which seems to most capture Rosa, the saintly nurse who uses whatever she can find to help whomever she can is said by her husband, José, “Rosa tells me she feels like one of those statues that hold up the roofs of old buildings (48).” She is actively trying to help, but just as her resources are in short supply, so to is her hope and motivation. It is hard taking care of everyone.
The way Engle describes Cuba, and Cuban culture is equally as visceral; “surrounded by jungle, walls of tree trunks, fences of thorns- (59)”. Her use of Spanish words, like “la Bayamesa”, “mambi”, “domingo”, “dios da”, “el medico”, “la madre”, “cimarrones”, “pesos” are interwoven in a manner where although you may not know what they mean, the context helps explain it. The Spanish never seems like an afterthought. It is always used in a manner that is intentional, and in nearly every case it reads like a song.
The best compliment I can give this book, is that once I put it down I immediately wanted to research Jose Marti , as Engle is very clear that he was influential.
Reviews:
School Library Journal- “An absolutely lovely book…that should be read by young and old, black and white, Anglo and Latino”.
Booklist- “Readers will hear the stories- and never forget them”.
Horn Book- “A work of literary imagination. Engle’s skillful portrait will spark reader’s interest in Manzano’s own poetry.”
Awards:
2009 Newbery Honor Book
2009 Pura Belpre Medal for Narrative
2009 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award
2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Connections:
This is an excellent grouping of poems to use to teach children to write in verse. There is not ubiquitous rhyming, simile, metaphor, there is simply feeling and thought, arranged carefully. It is important to show that poems do not always have to be conventional, and that they are just as wonderful for telling a story as narrative or short story.