★ 02/06/2023
After a hurricane uncovers her parents’ hidden sculptures of chained birds, leading to their arrest for violating Cuban policies regarding artistic liberty, Soleida is forced to flee alone. The 16-year-old travels through Central America before becoming stranded in a refugee camp in Costa Rica. Meanwhile, 16-year-old California native Dariel, the son of famous actors, enchants with his guitar, all while feeling trapped by his parents’ fame and their plans for his life. When his fingertips are burned in a fire, rendering him unable to play his guitar, he joins his abuelo in interviewing a diasporic community called los Cubanos de Costa Rica for a forthcoming book. There, Dariel meets Soleida, and their shared passion for artistic freedom and eco-activism inspires them to start a human rights campaign; they seek to liberate Soleida’s parents and other Cuban artists while saving the endangered wildlife and forests in Costa Rica. Employing stunningly immersive verse and distinct alternating perspectives, Engle (Singing with Elephants) sets Soleida and Dariel’s developing relationship against a backdrop of advocacy to present a profoundly romantic read that prioritizes topical issues, such as environmental and refugee crises, and political oppression of artists. English- and Spanish-language editions publish simultaneously. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Agency. (Apr.)
"Engle weaves a compelling love story balanced with an invitation to readers to consider the impact of climate change and the necessity for action now. She populates her poetry with vivid descriptions of many colorful bird species alongside lyrical references to musicians and poets giving us 'something magical and scientific / at the same time.' "
"Pura Belpré winner Engle touches on topical climate and social issues in her newest verse novel, told from two viewpoints during 2018 and 2019. . . Drawing on their talents for music and art, both teens beautifully and uniquely express themselves as their romance unfolds amid real-world catastrophes. Readers will admire the determination of both young activists as they rebel to make the world a safer place to inhabit. A must-buy. . ."
"Pura Belpré winner Engle touches on topical climate and social issues in her newest verse novel, told from two viewpoints during 2018 and 2019. . . Drawing on their talents for music and art, both teens beautifully and uniquely express themselves as their romance unfolds amid real-world catastrophes. Readers will admire the determination of both young activists as they rebel to make the world a safer place to inhabit. A must-buy. . ."
★ 12/08/2023
Gr 6 Up—Amid the verdant foliage of a secret sculpture garden, 16-year-old Soleida and her Cuban dissident parents try to flee after their illegal artwork is revealed by the ravages of a storm. Disguised as tourists, they arrive at the airport, where her parents are apprehended as she boards the plane. Lifting off should feel like freedom, but Soleida feels trapped and alone, a refugee in flight. At the same time in the California hills, teen Dariel and his famous telenovela-actor parents flee the wildfires that ravage their lavish home and threaten the surrounding wildlife. Both cataclysmic events were caused by global climate change, leaving the teens uprooted, desperate and angry. Drawn together by tragedy and determination, the survivors undertake a human rights campaign to help free incarcerated dissidents, and a reforestation project to protect endemic and endangered flora and fauna. The Cuban teens are from different backgrounds, but their divergent paths cross in Costa Rica, where, like lush rainforest flowers, a romance blooms. Masterful storyteller Engle uses non-rhyming verse in concise stanzas, isolating single words for emphasis. Told in alternating chapters, lyrical verse flows in evocative forms. Symbolism is evident throughout with references to birds and wings for flight and freedom. Other themes center around climate change and activism, connecting with one's roots, and the transformative and healing power of music and song. VERDICT Readers who enjoyed Engle's past works will get swept away, and new readers are given many points of entrance and connection in this relevant and poignant work. Hand to fans of Ellen Hagan's Don't Call Me a Hurricane.—Rebecca Jung
Aida Reluzco and Andre Bellido do a beautiful job of narrating this story about the uncertainty of young love. Soleida flees her native Cuba and eventually finds herself alone in a Costa Rican refugee camp. Dariel is visiting from California. He comes from a wealthy family, and, at first, the pair do not seem to have much in common. But soon they develop intense feelings for each other. They are both concerned about climate change and committed to helping environmental causes. Reluzco and Bellido both switch from English to Cuban Spanish easily. They have a youthful quality in their voices that adds authenticity to the listening experience. Reluzco is good at conveying Soleida's precarious mental state by adding the right amount of hesitation to her delivery. A.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Aida Reluzco and Andre Bellido do a beautiful job of narrating this story about the uncertainty of young love. Soleida flees her native Cuba and eventually finds herself alone in a Costa Rican refugee camp. Dariel is visiting from California. He comes from a wealthy family, and, at first, the pair do not seem to have much in common. But soon they develop intense feelings for each other. They are both concerned about climate change and committed to helping environmental causes. Reluzco and Bellido both switch from English to Cuban Spanish easily. They have a youthful quality in their voices that adds authenticity to the listening experience. Reluzco is good at conveying Soleida's precarious mental state by adding the right amount of hesitation to her delivery. A.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
★ 2023-01-25
Romance blooms against a backdrop of adversity and environmental conservation efforts.
It’s 2018, and Soleida, a 16-year-old Cuban girl, lives with her artist parents, who create sculptures protesting government laws that criminalize some forms of artistic expression. When a climate change–fueled hurricane destroys their home and exposes the art in their garden to authorities, her parents are arrested, and Soleida must flee, seeking asylum. Cuban American Dariel, also 16, has traveled to Costa Rica with his Abuelo to help him write the story of los caminantes, Cuban migrants fleeing oppression who have been stranded at the border with Nicaragua, unable to continue their journeys. Dariel comes from a wealthy celebrity family in California and has been affected by climate change in the form of dangerous wildfires that destroyed his home. When the two teens first meet in a refugee camp in the Costa Rican jungle, Soleida is traumatized by her journey, and Dariel is unable to connect with her. But slowly they begin a relationship centered on a mutual reverence for nature and a proclivity for the arts—Soleida is a painter, and Dariel is a musician. Chapters with alternating perspectives move the story forward briskly. Luscious verse and beautiful descriptions of the flora and fauna bring attention to the impacts of the climate crisis and the urgent need for change.
Inspiring and hopeful; young love and the call to action resonate. (author’s note) (Verse novel. 12-17)
