Enchanted Air Book Review by Margarita Engle

978-1534424944 

Written by Margarita Engle

Illustrated by Edel Rodriguez

Published by Simon and Schuester in 2015

ISBN- 978-1481435222

Plot Summary: This is an autobiography that is written in the form of a series of poems that tell the story of Margarita Engle and her early life growing up during the Cold War as a Cuban American. Margarita has many memories to tell and each of the poems fills in a story or detail that happened to her and how it made an impression on her. She writes a lot about traveling and uses the details of flying to describe many of her adventures and thoughts. She talks about the harrowing experience of waiting to die as the nuclear bombs are being threatened to launch and about how the rich have taken everything underground and that as a poor person she will be left to die if the bombs do go off. This book takes place around the first 15 years of her life. 

Analysis: Margarita has a beautiful way of incorporating not only serious topics such as the cold war but also funny memories that she has of being in school where the teacher tells her that the tree she drew doesn't look like that but she says that teachers can be wrong as she hadn't seen the dancing plants of Cuba before. The author relates to animals and especially animals that have wings such as vultures, butterflies, and even made up animals like winged centaurs. The metaphors that she uses helps us understand that even though she is in a place that is safe and happy, her heart and mind soar towards places that she longs to visit as she is drawn towards a different world. Her references to pop culture of the time like the Beatles will be sure to take older readers back and will provide a history lesson through poetry for those that are younger. 

Reviews: 

Kirkus Book Reviews

It really is possible to feel / like two people / at the same time, / when your parents / grandparents / memories / words / come from two / different / worlds.”

Poet and novelist Engle has won a Newbery Honor, the Pura Belpré Award, and the Américas Award, among others. Of Cuban-American descent, she has mostly written about Cuba and Cuban history. This time she brings readers her own childhood. Employing free verse, she narrates growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and early ’60s torn by her love of two countries: the United States, where she was born and raised, and Cuba, where her mother was from and where she spent vacations visiting family. 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. This is also the time when Engle discovers books and her own poetry as safe places to retreat to. Though it is a very personal story, it is also one that touches on issues affecting so many immigrants, as when she wonders: “Is there any way that two people / from faraway places / can ever really / understand each other’s / daydreams?”

As so many of our children are immigrants or children of immigrants, we need more of these stories, especially when they are as beautifully told as this one. (Cold War timeline, author’s note) (Poetry/memoir. 10 & up)

Connections: Students can make a memory map of the important events and thoughts that have happened so far in their lives and start making a memoir through poetry since the memories are fresh. They could draw pictures to go along with their poetry if they want and then present their memoirs at a poetry reading or in class. 

Other Books by Margarita Engle

Rima's Rebellion ISBN 978-1534486935

With A Star In My Hand ISBN 978-1534424944

Jazz Owls ISBN 978-1534409446