Margarita Engle

Follows a young Cuban girl in the 1930s as she strives to become a drummer, despite being continually reminded that only boys play the drums, and that there's never been a female drummer in Cuba. Includes note about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, who inspired the story, and Anacaona, the all-girl dance band she formed with her sisters.

In early twentieth-century Cuba, bandits terrorize the countryside as a young farm girl struggles with dyslexia. Based on the life of the author's grandmother.

In free verse, evokes the voice of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, a book-loving writer, feminist, and abolitionist who courageously fought injustice in nineteenth-century Cuba. Includes historical notes, excerpts from her writings, biographical information, and source notes.

While visiting her abuelo in Cuba, a young girl helps him sell frutas, singing the name of each fruit as they walk, and after she returns to the United States, they exchange letters made of abrazos--hugs. Includes historical and cultural notes.

During a Hindu festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, brothers Alu and Bhalu search for a dog they can honor with food and gratitude. Includes glossary of Nepali words and suggested activities.

Illustrations and easy-to-read text tell of travelers who have left their homelands to bring their talents, hopes, and determination to a land where Liberty's light shines for all.

"In this ... memoir, Margarita Engle, the first Latina woman to receive a Newbery Honor, tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War"--Amazon.com. In this poetic memoir Engle, the first Latina woman to receive a Newbery Honor, tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War. Her heart was in Cuba, her mother's tropical island country, a place so lush with vibrant life that it seems like a fairy tale kingdom....

All the orangutans are ready for a nap in the sleepy depths of the afternoon--all except one. Written in a series of linked poems in the tanka style, which is an ancient Japanese form of poetry.

A girl and her community celebrate the arrival of the water man when he comes on his weekly visit to distribute water to a Cuban village.

Summer, 1991. The people of Cuba are living in el periodo especial en tiempos de paz - the special period in times of peace. That's what the government insists that this era must be called, but the reality behind these words is starvation. Hunger has made Liana brave: she finds the courage to skip a summer of so-called volunteer farm labor, even though she risks government retribution. Amado also refuses to comply, so he wanders alone, trying to discover...