Book In Verse Pick: Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings (A Memoir)

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings (A Memoir)
by Margarita Engle
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2015
189 pages
ISBN: 9781481435222


Enchanted, indeed! Readers will experience the sights and sounds of Cuba through Margarita Engle's triumphant YA book. Engle captivates and transcends decades and distance. Remembering back to her youth spent in Cuba before the Cold War, Engle describes an enchanted  island of sun, sea, horses, farms, fragrant flowers, bright colors, music and tropical fruit. The lime picked by her grandmother is the most fragrant lovely thing young Margarita has ever tasted.

When her family moves to smoggy Los Angeles, she is forced into a school where she's an outsider. As she looks at the other students, she realizes that she will never fit in. The girl longs for her other home, her island home. She misses her Abuelita and the enchanted air of Cuba.


April 1961 brings the Bay of Pigs, a failed U.S. attempt to control Cuba and Margarita is looked upon as the enemy by classmates. She is afraid that she may have to go to a war camp like Japanese Americans during World War II. The girl retreats into books where she can be free. 1962 is the beginning of the Cold War and American school children are taught to hide under their desks for nuclear drills. Grown ups whisper and people are visibly shaken. America is afraid of Cuba and the Soviet Union. America holds its breath as the President continues talks with Khrushchev. America closes its doors to Cuba.

Margarita's family may never see their relatives again.  Engle writes in the author's note, "While I was writing Enchanted Air, my hope was that normalization would begin before it went to press. That prayer has been answered....one of the closest neighbors of the United States is just beginning to be accessible to other American citizens."

Young Margarita lives for books and poetry, spending much of her time visiting the library. She writes, "Books become my refuge./Reading keeps me hopeful." How many readers  have escaped through books? The written word is powerful indeed, connecting a lonely child with a world outside her four walls and a country that does not welcome her. The "two wings" are the two countries: America and Cuba, her two lives so different yet both a part of her.

Readers will engage with the verse structure of the book. Easy and accessible to readers, even reluctant ones, Enchanted Air is a great addition to any multi-cultural studies collection or classroom.
Engle describes the historical incidents of the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs from a child's point of view. It is powerful and poignant.

Highly, highly recommended grade 6-up. This is one book that has many teaching opportunities: history, sociology, English, poetry, and teach it for the love of literature!

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Fairy Tale Pick: Egg & Spoon

Egg & Spoon
by Gregory Maguire
Candlewick
2014
475 pages
ISBN: 9780763672201

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Times are tough for Russian peasants. No longer serfs, but not better off, the people of the Russian countryside are starving. Crops and animals are dying and there is nothing to eat. Elena's father died years ago, one brother is fighting in the war, and another brother has been kidnapped. Elena alone must try and find food and medicine to keep her ailing mother alive. The village is empty except for the old "doctor"--who is really a veterinarian, an old grandmother, Elena and her sick mother, and a few women with babies.

Russia is unfair with its wealth. The poor get sick, starve and die. The rich eat succulent meats and creamy pastries and wear silk and satin finery and travel to visit the Tsar's palace. Someday Elena vows, she will go to the Tsar and tell him of her starving village and her sick mother. Surely, he will help. After all, he is the Tsar, right?

One day after a terrible storm, a beautiful train arrives in the village. The depot has long been closed. Even the elderly barely remember when trains used to stop there. Elena is curious. What caused  this fine train to  stop in her dusty village and who so rich could afford such luxury? The village has never seen such a train. The engineer explains that the bridge has been washed out ahead and will take time to repair. Until then, the train is stuck. Elena is captivated and soon discovers a girl her  own age on board.

Through a twist of fate, Elena leaves on the train and Ekaterina finds herself left behind in Elena's squalid village. Elena realizes that the grown ups will mistake her for the rich heiress, so she decides to go with it. She wears Ekaterina's clothing and with the help of the governess, pretends to be the rich girl.

On her own adventure the real Ekaterina ventures away and into woods where magic abounds. It is here she meets the witch of lore: Baba Yaga.

Two girls switched by fate: one poor urchin off to the palace and one rich princess off to the woods. Who would you put your money on?

Egg & Spoon is well crafted and written with a keen eye for plot development. My main concern about this book is the cover. It's not what I would call eye-catching or eye-candy for young readers. This cover will not draw them in. The mere girth of the novel is another problem--tipping the scales at 475 pages, it is not a short read for middle grades. I have a feeling this book will win awards and be recognized for its craft, but it will not be popular with middle grade readers. For that, I am sorry. It's a great read that teachers and librarians are going to have to lead readers to.

Highly recommended grade 5-up. Good readers should not have a problem with this book. It is entertaining and well-written but lengthy.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Spy Pick: Two Lies and a Spy

Two Lies and a Spy
by Kat Carlton
Simon & Schuster BFYR
2013
245 pages

Exciting and rocket paced,  packed with explosive action, rife with romance, and simmering with spy double and triple crosses, Two Lies and a Spy is the real deal!

It started with a text: "Can u pick up milk on ur way home?" and that's all it takes for sixteen year old Kari Andrews to slip into stealth mode. It's the Code Black emergency message her parents set in place years ago to protect their family. When Kari sees it, she knows to "bug out." She races to pick up younger brother Charlie  and immediately  has to go into martial arts ninja girl warrior  mode and fight off Mitch, a guy who works with her parents. Why is Mitch trying to capture them, and where are her parents?

Kari stops by Union Station to retrieve their stashed emergency backpacks complete with fake passports and cash. She takes a round about cab ride, hoping to ditch anyone following them and checks them in at a Comfort Inn--the agreed upon meet up place for Kari and her parents.  It's time to hide out and wait for contact with her parents.

After several days, Kari decides she's going to need help on this caper, so she enlists BFF Rita, a wannabe spy and hot guys Luke and Evan for back up. Kari knows her parents are being held as spies by the Agency--a spy organization where they have worked as U.S. spies for years. The kids decide to enter posing as a school tour; Rita stays behind hacking into the security system to protect them.

The answers Kari finds at the Agency are not the ones she went looking for. And "friends" soon become suspect. What's a girl  spy to do? When friends are suddenly enemies and enemies are allies, what can she do?

Two Lies and a Spy is a rollicking good time, and I was sad when I turned the last page--it is that good.

Highly, highly recommended grade 7 up. Mild profanity (which is used on television). No questionable content.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Don't Miss this Must-Have Mind Blowing Fantasy Pick: Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Bardugo
Henry Holt(Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)
2012
368 pages

Available June 5, 2012

Watch the book trailer here


Watch a video of historical images that inspired the author



Just what is Tsarpunk anyway?


download a free excerpt here

Beautiful, beguiling, mesmerizing, and magical, this epic tale of good versus evil set in the 19th century in a war-torn kingdom resembling Russia will captivate hordes of readers who will make Shadow and Bone the next must-have trilogy. I expect movie rights are already being secured in Hollywood.

Shadow and Bone is the best debut novel I have read this year. It is everything a reader could possibly want: an sweeping epic tale, a quest for justice, a feisty female protagonist with a mind of her own, a dark, brooding sexy villian, a heroic and strong male love interest, a kingdom at war with itself and a monarchy in peril.

The world of the Grisha is rich in history; they serve the King and practice using elements in science to release energy in a magical fashion. Grishas are born with their powers but must practice to use them and channel their energy.

Alina and Mal are both orphans who grow up together in a rural castle home until they become soldiers for the King. Alina becomes a mapmaker and Mal is a fighter. They journey to the Shadow Fold, a vast, dark wilderness that they must cross to reach the True Sea. It is here that many perish. When their regiment is attacked by Volcra, giant meat-eating birds that live in the dark and prey on humans, Mal dives on top of Alina, saving her life and somehow she saves his.

Alina is taken to the Palace and questioned by the Darkling, the most powerful Grisha, feared by the people and right hand man to the King. The Darkling realizes Alina is the one he has all been seeking all these years--she is the fabled Sun Summoner, the most powerful Grisha in history. She is whisked away into hiding and trained by the Darkling's trusted servants.

Mal is far away and Alina pines for word of him. She writes to him, but her letters go unanswered. She finds herself wondering about the Darkling--he is so mysterious, yet sexy. When he kisses her, there are real sparks, but then she questions her feelings for Mal.


Palace life is rife with gossip, but Alina stays away from most of it. When her old teacher comes to her at night telling her that she must flee the palace and warning her that the Darkling may not be her hero after all, Alina can't believe it! In fact, Alina is in serious danger if she stays at the palace. Mal comes back just in time to help her escape and they are on the run from the King, the Darkling and all the King's horses and all the King's men.

Shadow and Bone is a fantastical world where magic exists and the line drawn in the sand between good and evil is disappearing. The Darkling is the best villian since Darth Vader, but Alina is no wimpy Princess Leia--she is a sexy super-hero who speaks her own mind.

Books two and three promise to be just as amazing. Leigh Bardugo has created a rich and gorgeous world full of breath-taking scenery and horrible monsters, a world where spoiled royalty bask in their wealth and abundance while the peasants starve in the fields and their soldiers are killed in wars and in the Shadow Fold. This is a world ripe for revolution and revolt. Who knows what part Alina and Mal will play in the next edition?

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up with this warning. The Darkling kisses Alina and it's pretty steamy, but they are interrupted before things get carried away. There are shows on prime time television with streamier scenes, so you'll have to make the decision to purchase the book or not. Violence; the Darkling cuts a man in half with his power. Again, other books have this much gore, too.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.