The Surrender Tree, Margarita Engle
The Surrender Tree, Margarita Engle
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The Surrender Tree

Author: Margarita Engle

Narrator: Various

Unabridged: 1 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/28/2009


Synopsis

How can there be
a little war?
Are some deaths
smaller than others,
leaving mothers
who weep
a little less?

Cuba has fought three wars for independence, and still she is not free. Her people have been rounded up in reconcentration camps, where there is always too little food and too much illness. Rosa knows how to heal sickness with medicines made from wild plants. But with a price on her head for helping the rebels, Rosa dares not go out in the open. Instead, she turns hidden caves into hospitals for those who know how to find her. Black, white, Cuban, Spanish–Rosa does her best for everyone, even Lieutenant Death, who has sworn to kill her. Yet who can heal a country so torn apart by war? In this history in verse, acclaimed poet Margarita Engle has created a lyrical, powerful portrait of Cuba.

About The Author

Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. Her books include the critically acclaimed The Poet Slave of Cuba, which was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Bank Street College of Education Best Book, and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon book, among other honors. She lives with her husband in Northern California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Leah

THE SURRENDER TREE is a book that's completely outside of my normal wheel house. It's historical fiction, written in verse form, about wars I knew absolutely nothing about. But it was so powerful. Each page (for the most part) follows one of the following characters: - Rosa: a freed slave healer - J......more

Goodreads review by Betsy

It's good to finally get a chance to read the most infamous of the 2009 Newbery Honor books, but I'm confused by at least one plot gap. Lieutenant Death just sort of fades away without much explanation. With his Javert like intent upon killing Rosa, why did that disappear? Shouldn't we have gotten s......more

Goodreads review by Julie

Cuba's three wars for independence are conveyed in expressive free verse. A variety of voices, from an angel of mercy nurse and her husband to a merciless solider known at Lieutenant Death; slaves, resistance fighters and refugees--all tell of Cuba's tragic nineteenth century quest to be free of Spa......more

Goodreads review by Ivonne

Cuban-American poet and author Margarita Engle is probably best know for her children’s books. And two children — the slave Rosa and the son of the slave hunter, nicknamed Lieutenant Death — begin this poetic account of the three wars of independence necessary for Cuba to free itself from Spanish ru......more