Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba

By Margarita Engle
ISBN: 0805089365 EAN: 9780805089363
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Pub Date: March 31, 2009

Plot: Daniel is a thirteen year old boy who is separated from his parents in WWII Nazi Germany. He sets sail to New York as a refuge but is turned away and headed for Cuba. The poems speak of the unfamiliar surroundings (and sometimes unsurities), and yet the familiar feelings of hate and unjust. Longiness for home and for family. Daniel encounters hardships and valuable friendships along the way. We also learn of Paloma, Daniel's new friend in Cuba, and her anger and resentment towards her father and his extortion of the refugees. The poems alternate between Daniel's hopes and fear, wishes and desires, as well as Paloma's anger, friendship, and desire to do the "right thing" aside from her father.

Critical Analysis:

This book reads like a shortened novel with each line. Organized by dates, and what would appear as a "letter-like" format. Rhyming words you won't find too much, but a steady rhythm and breathtaking words to help the reader simulate the exact emotions felt by such a young child whose life has been turned upside down. The opening poem, 1939 "Daniel," - "Last year in Berlin, on the Night of Crystal, my grandfather was killed, while I held his hand." (Paragraph 3) - "How can hatred have such a beautiful name? Crystal should be clear, but on that dark night the glass of broken windows did not glitter." - "Nothing could be seen through the haze of pain."

December 1941 - Paloma, "Secrets grow like tropical vines. The dovecote is messy like my mind. I visit quietly, sneaking in, creeping up, carrying food for the terrified old folks who suddenly seem like family."

Reviews/Awards:

Sydney Taylor Book Award - 2010

Voice of Youth Advocates (04/01/2009): Readers who think they might not like a novel in verse will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly and smoothly the story flows. In an author's note, Engle tells of her own family's experience with anti-Semitic violence, relocation, and a Cuban connection. One feels her desire to reveal this little-known part of history. The reader sympathizes with Daniel's plight and is gratified when he does not succumb to his woes but continues to embrace life by mentoring another refugee. The book will provide great fodder for discussion of the Holocaust, self-reliance, ethnic and religious bias, and more.

School Library Journal (06/01/2009):This book is an outstanding choice for young people of all reading skills. Reluctant readers will be encouraged by the open layout and brief text, and everyone will be captivated by the eloquent poems and compelling characters.

Connections:

While this book is, what I consider to be a bit too old, it would make a great Book Talk series with older students (10th grade and up) who can handle a serious, in depth talk, as well as maturity and knowledge, of the atrocities faced by the Jewish nation in Germany during WWII.