The Surrender Tree

The Surrender Tree

 Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

Margarita Engle

 

Margarita Engle is a Cuban American author and was awarded a the first Newbery Honor awarded to a Latino for The Surrender Tree in 2009. She has written several award winning books including The Poet Slave of Cuba, Hurricane Dancers, Tropical Secrets and The Firefly Letters.

The Surrender Tree is historical fiction in free verse and tells the story of Cuba's fight for freedom through different voices. Rosa, a nurse, tends to sick and injured people using whatever she can find from the earth. She travels from cave to cave in the wild jungle using plants to heal women, children and even soldiers who are fighting against her. Rosa's husband, Jose, stays by her side and keeps the look out to make sure they are safe. 

A verse novel is a "narrative [that] unfolds poem by poem, often with multiple points of view and in colloquial, conversational language" (Vardell, 2008). Engle writes her verse novel this way, using short sentences within fairly short poems. No poem is more than two pages. A short poem and one of my favorites is on page 69. Rosa is the speaker: "Too soon/ the battles/ begin again./ Mercifully/ this new war/ is brief./ Tragically/ this new war/ is futile./ Sometimes, war feels/ just like one more/ slavery." Although the poems are short I can feel the growing despair in the words. 

Engle does a great job of describing the jungle scene throughout the novel: "Tree frogs, screech owls, the dancing leaves/ of feathery ferns, the fragrant petals/ of wild orchids./ Night wings/ crickets/ imagining secrets/ wondering which flowers/ might save a life" (pg. 105) and "trees grow like castle towers/ with windows opening/ onto rooms of sunlight./ I can no longer imagine/ living elsewhere/ without this garden of orchids/ and bright macaws" (pg. 114)

Professional Reviews for The Surrender Tree:

• Voice of Youth Adrravocates: "This book is a quick read and offers a rare glimpse into a historical period that is often overlooked in schools. The poems are short but incredibly evocative of what it feels like to be fighting oppression. It will be a great choice to hand to reluctant readers or to history students to humanize a lesson about Hispanic heritage or the Spanish American War."

• School Library Journal: "This collection is an intriguing way to introduce Cuban history and discussions on issues such as slavery and colonialism."
• Booklist: "Many readers will be caught by the compelling narrative voices."

Books by Margarita Engle
Meet the author: An interview with Margarita Engle
Classroom ideas to accompany the book
Similar books

Engle, Margarita. The Surrender Tree. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2008. 

ISBN978-0-8050-8674-4

$9.99 at Barnes & Noble

Work cited: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

Author photo from http://www.arabesques-editions.com/journal/212206.html