Enchanted Air: Book Review
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Engle, Margarita. Enchanted
Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers,
2016. ISBN 148143523X
PLOT SUMMARY
This poetic memoir tells the tale of Margarita, a girl ‘from
two worlds’. Her heart is divided between her two countries, the USA and Cuba,
and what she goes through during the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Margarita sees her worlds falling apart, unable to understand the hatred
fueling tensions between the two countries. Will Margarita have to live the
rest of her life in one place? Will she ever be able to visit her beloved
island of Cuba? Read and live through her experiences to find out!
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
From the beginning of this memoir, the audience is draw
into Margarita’s life and given tremendous insight into her personal
experiences and feelings. Specific, emotional descriptive words are chosen to portray
feeling within this work, such as in the poem What Am I?, where we live through Margarita’s experience in the
classroom as tensions with Cuba begin to build. Through beautifully written
poetic verses, Margarita Engle tells us the story of her hardships growing up
as a child of two cultures during the difficult time of the Cold War, being
divided by her mother’s enchanting Cuba and her father’s noisy city of Los Angeles
(where she lives most of the time). She tells of her poor treatment from her
peers and teachers, who look at her with accusation and anger. She does not
know how to answer the question of who she truly is, struggling with her
identity, and says that ‘it’s a question that requires fractions, and I don’t
like math’. Such language is used throughout the memoir, Margarita Engle
carefully choosing words that describe her as two people, split by the world’s
happenings. Throughout this work we see reference towards this duo personality,
using terms such as ‘true self’ and ‘invisible twin’, to create an insightful
look into what she felt like having to live with a part of her being torn.
This memoir also uses various cultural elements to help
place the reader into the mindset of this young girl with dual citizenship; a
girl who relates to two countries and has two cultural identities. For example,
from the very start the audience is presented with Latin-based terms, such as abuelita for grandma, mami for mommy, and voy por avion for traveling by airplane. The intertwining of English
and Spanish terminology serves to further promote the feeling of her dual
citizenship and her identifying with both cultures. As margarita finds herself
more and more alienated from her peers, she turns more towards literature for
solace and belonging, and books become her refuge, though she finds it
difficult to relate to much. Through her readings, Margarita is confronted with
the idea of gender and gender-specific identities and roles, noticing that the
male figures in stories are the heroic ones, not the females. Despite her
struggle with this, Margarita’s mother provides some comfort, telling her that
she can be and do whatever she believe is possible, despite being female. Being
confronted with ideas of gender and appropriate gender behavior is something that
all individuals face, and this presents an opportunity for the memoir’s
audience to relate to Margarita’s experience.
This is an extremely well written and insightful coming of
age poetic memoir. In this work, the audience is presented with the themes of
identity, culture, feminism and gender roles, and the power of words through
the vivid and emotional writing.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
ALA Notable Children’s Books
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award
Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award
From School Library Journal: “A deeply personal
memoir-in-verse filled with Engle’s trademark intricately woven lyricism. The
author’s memories focus on the first 14 year of her life, beginning with idyllic
summers spent in her mother’s homeland of Cuba and ending during the aftermath
of the Cuban Missile Crisis and subsequent travel ban. Engle captures the heart
of a quiet, young girl torn between two cultures.”
From Booklist: “Reflecting on her childhood in Los Angeles
and her Cuban heritage, Engle’s memoir in verse is, indeed, nothing short of
enchanting. Descriptions of Cuba as a tropical paradise and the home of her
beloved abuelita come alive in the
spare free-verse poems…With characteristic prevision, Engle captures a range of
emotions and observations salient to a young girl.”
From Kirkus Reviews: “…Woven into the fabric of her
childhood is the anxiety of deteriorating relations between the two countries
as the Cuban revolution takes place, affecting both her family and the two
countries at large…Though it is a very personal story, it is also one that
touches on issues affecting so many immigrants…”
CONNECTIONS
Use to teach children about immigration and how some
children may consider two countries their homes.
Use to teach children a small lesson about the Cuban
Missile Crisis, Cuban Revolution and the Cold War.
Read other works by Margarita Engle such as:
- · The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba. ISBN 0805090827
- · The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom. ISBN 0312608713
- · The Wild Book. ISBN 0544022750
- · Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal. ISBN 0544668707
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