Author
Margarita Engle
8 books here
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom
Verse novel · ages 10–14 · 820L · 2008
A Newbery winner that uses verse to make a hard history emotionally immediate—kids who think they hate poetry often read this in one sitting, and it's the rare war book that makes 10-year-olds feel the moral weight without trauma.
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir
Verse novel · ages 10–14 · 680L · 2016
A stunning introduction to immigration and identity through verse—lyrical without being precious, and the dual-culture experience feels lived rather than explained.
The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist
Verse novel · ages 10–14 · 720L · 2013
A lyrical, unflinching introduction to a historical hero most American curricula omit—the verse form makes Plácido's own words sing without softening the stakes of abolition or his execution.
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
Verse novel · ages 10–14 · 780L · 2011
A luminous, necessary biography in verse—Engle's form mirrors Manzano's own claim to poetry as an act of resistance, and the reading challenges are worth the emotional and historical weight.
Forest World
Verse novel · ages 8–12 · 680L · 2017
A lyrical, sensory-rich verse novel that plants wonder about ecosystems and indigenous knowledge—best read aloud, and genuinely moves kids who connect with natural observation.
The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba
Verse novel · ages 10–14 · 780L · 2017
A lyrical, historically grounded introduction to suffrage and cultural identity that rewards patient readers; the verse form mirrors the emotional complexity of the protagonist's journey without simplifying it.
Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck
Verse novel · ages 8–12 · 620L · 2015
A formally ambitious verse novel that weaves Caribbean history, colonialism, and survival through multiple voices—challenging and rewarding for kids ready for literary density and moral complexity.
Wild Dreamers
Verse novel · ages 8–12 · 620L · 2025
Engle's verse portraits of real and imagined young dreamers from the Caribbean feel intimate and expansive at once; the language is genuinely poetic without being precious, and kids encounter radiant figures (often women and girls) solving problems through creativity.