Like all teens, she wondered what her place in the world would be, and here she is today, using her love of poetry and stories to write award-winning novels and non-fiction in verse. I can also relate to some of her childhood frustrations, such as not being able to have something you really want (for her it was a horse, for me it was a piano). at that time were detained and questioned by the government on suspicion of being Communist. It's so sad that it had to divide families. How well I remember, even though I was half her age at the time.

What I related to here was her experiences in school during and after the Cuban missile crisis. They would make the trip to Cuba to visit the relatives as often as they could. Her father was American, but her mother was from Cuba, and they lived in various places on the west coast.

Engle here describes in poems her childhood until the age of 14. Writing of her fears during the Cuban Missile crisis enables the reader to feel the pain of Cubans who are impacted dramatically, while focusing on the fears of the United States as Russia and the United States struggle for a peaceful resolution.īeautiful, insightful and stunningly written, I highly recommend this book.įrom the Federal Fureau of Investigation.Įvery book I've read about Cuba makes me want to visit the island. Returning to the United States and learning art, music and culture, the author compares and contrasts the countries. Visiting Cuba when a child and documenting the rich culture, the air, the markets, the colors and the freedom depicted in poetic form by the author lends to a stunningly beautiful rich feeling. When the hostility between Cuba and the United States erupts at the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Margarita’s worlds collide in the worst way possible.This lovely book, written in poetry explores the thoughts and feelings of the author as a young child embracing both the cultures of Cuba, her mother's country, and the United States, the country where she resides. Words and images are her constant companions, friendly and comforting when the children at school are not. But most of the time she lives in Los Angeles, lonely in the noisy city and dreaming of the summers when she can take a plane through the enchanted air to her beloved island. Her heart lies in Cuba, her mother’s tropical island country, a place so lush with vibrant life that it seems like a fairy tale kingdom. In this poetic memoir, which won the Pura Belpré Author Award, was a YALSA Nonfiction Finalist, and was named a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, acclaimed author Margarita Engle tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War.

Enchanted air two cultures two wings