Two countries. Two families. Two sets of words.
My poem book is Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings by Margarita Engle. These poems tell a story about a girl (Margarita) and her families. Her mother is from Cuba her father from Ukraine and they live in Los Angles. Through the poems Margarita portrays the beauty of Cuba and the fear of the Americans fro the Cubans during the revolution in Cuba. Margarita loves Cuba and it’s tropical setting. She struggles with finding herself with being from two different cultures and living in Los Angles there are two different personas she takes her North American she self and her Cuban self. One really understands her feelings about what is happeing in Cuba she feels like an outsider but also still feels like she belongs. There is that in between feeling where she knows where she is from but also struggles to stay with the roots of her mother. Margarita loves Cuba.
This memoir is a very easy read but the content is certaily for a middle schooler maybe fifth and sixth graders as well. Some poems I read faster than the otheres depeding on the content and mood that is being set.
Cento:
Homesick, she sings to herself in spanish.
There is only one place
she truly belongs
she feels at home even though this peaccful town is not her own
And now coming back home
isn’t really coming back
AT ALL.
One Reply to “Two countries. Two families. Two sets of words.”
This seems like an amazing book to read especially if you can relate to the two different lifestyles. I feel like it would be a great book to introduce to children to let them see the two sides of someones life. This book sparks an interest in me and I’m excited to pick this book up for my library. I can see how we can make a lot of lessons out of this book without me even reading it. It sounds like an amazing book. Awesome blog! I got a great summary of the book and now i honestly will put it on my reading list.