Drum Dream Girl How One Girl's Courage Changed Music by Magarita Engle Book Review
Written by Margarita Engle
Illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Published by Dreamscape Media in 2016
ISBN: 978-1520018171
Plot Summary: This is a book of poetry that is focusing on the historical figure Millo Castro Zaldarriaga who is a Chinese-African-Cuban drummer where it was unheard of for a girl to be a drummer at that time in Cuba. Millo spends time dreaming about being a drummer and she thinks about all the different types of drums including conga drums, bongo drums, and even the timables which are the silver small drums that you can play on your hand. Millo feels the beat of the drum in everything that she does including walking, her heartbeat, and in the environment around her like listening to the woodpecker. She is constantly reminded that she doesn't belong as a drummer she finds ways to find drums and play and she even gets invited to be a part of a band. Her father says that only boys plays drums but relents and finds her a teacher who sees her natural talents and encourages her to keep practicing and gets her a job playing the bongo drums in the cafe. The audience loves her and convinces everyone that girls should be allowed to drum.
Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers): Drum Dream girl brings about a topic that is important for the time period as Cuba was in the midst of major social and cultural reforms after gaining their independence from Spain but still it wasn't allowed to be its own country. It was a very tradition oriented culture at the time with men and women fulfilling stereotypical roles within the family and in the culture. This included music where women were allowed to be part of the band but they didn't play the drums. Engle gives us something to aspire towards as even when everyone told her no and that she couldn't do it, Millo was able to persevere and work hard to become just as good as the boys. The author's note was very interesting as Millo was invited to play for the President FDR at just 15 years old.
Rafael Lopez brings more of his work to life with the illustrations in the book as there is a very strong graphic feature to the characters in the poem that many people will be able to recognize as coming from the hispanic context with its very bright color schemes. He also makes the reader stop and turn the book as some of the illustrations are done vertically rather than in horizontal so that the reader has to turn and look at the book in a new way which causes the reader to slow down and enjoy the illustrations and the words. The carnival is a highlight of the book as the characters on stilts bring a sense of fun and the costumes remind readers of the fun that is happening at the party.
Review: School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—Often, popular knowledge of Cuba begins and ends with late-20th-century textbook fare: the Cuban Revolution, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Fidel Castro. The Surrender Tree, however, transports readers to another, though no less tumultuous, era. Spanning the years 1850–1899, Engle’s poems construct a narrative woven around the nation’s Wars for Independence. The poems are told in alternating voices, though predominantly by Rosa, a “freed” slave and natural healer destined to a life on the lam in the island’ s wild interior. Other narrators include Teniente Muerte, or Lieutenant Death, the son of a slave hunter turned ruthless soldier; José, Rosa’s husband and partner in healing; and Silvia, an escapee from one of Cuba’s reconcentration camps. The Surrender Tree is hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba’s troubled past through the poetry of hidden moments such as the glimpse of a woman shuttling children through a cave roof for Rosa’s care or the snapshot of runaway Chinese slaves catching a crocodile to eat. Though the narrative feels somewhat repetitive in its first third, one comes to realize it is merely symbolic of the unending cycle of war and the necessity for Rosa and other freed slaves to flee domesticity each time a new conflict begins. Aside from its considerable stand-alone merit, this book, when paired with Engle’s The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano (Holt, 2006), delivers endless possibilities for discussion about poetry, colonialism, slavery, and American foreign policy.—Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT , School Library Journal
Connection: Students can work on the different literary devices that are present in this story including onomatopoeia, repertiation, and the meter of the poem. This would go really well in a poetry unit as you can also introduce Kennings which are hyphenated adjectives.
More books by Margarita Engle
A Song of Frutas ISBN: 978-1534444898
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