In this stirring young adult novel-in-verse from award-winning author Margarita Engle, love and conservation intertwine as two teens go on a transformative journey celebrating the power of overcoming personal struggles to make a lasting impact (Kirkus Reviews).

Ana and her mother have been living out of their car ever since her militant father became one of the FBI's most wanted. Leandro has struggled with debilitating anxiety since his family fled Cuba on a perilous raft.

One moonlit night, in a wilderness park in California, Ana and Leandro meet. Their connection is instant--a shared radiance that feels both scientific and magical. Then they discover they are not alone: a huge mountain lion stalks through the trees, one of many wild animals whose habitat has been threatened by humans.

Determined to make a difference, Ana and Leandro start a rewilding club at their school, working with scientists to build wildlife crossings that can help mountain lions find one another. If pumas can find their way to a better tomorrow, surely Ana and Leandro can too.

Eloísa loves music, but with her family too poor to buy a radio, she can only hear it when rhythms and melodies drift through her open window. Birds and cats raise their voices in daily choruses, and songs from a neighbor's radio travel through the air. On the street below, children shake maracas and beat a steady rhythm on bongo drums and a lute, a cowbell, and un güiro round out the orchestra.

The sounds of her neighborhood are music enough for Eloísa, but when Mamá gets sick and the family can't afford medicine, can la música soothe her the way it's always comforted Eloísa?

Eloísa ama la música, pero como su familia es muy humilde, solo puede escuchar los ritmos y melodías que entran cuando abre su ventana. Pajaritos y gatos, con sus voces, entonan coros a diario, y canciones de la radio del vecino flotan en el aire. En la calle, los niños agitan maracas y producen ritmos con tambores bongós, un laúd, un cencerro y un güiro, en fin, una orquesta.

Los sonidos del vecindario es música suficiente para Eloísa, pero cuando su mamá se enferma y a su familia se le dificulta comprar medicinas, podrá la música aliviarla del mismo modo en que consuela a Eloísa?

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule--until the drum dream girl.

In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongós. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers, Drum Dream Girl tells an inspiring true story for dreamers everywhere.

This beautiful picture book was recognized with a Pura Belpré Honor. A strong option for those interested in women's history and Hispanic History topics.

Winged beings are meant to be free. And so are artists, but the Cuban government has criminalized any art that doesn't meet their approval. Soleida and her parents protest this injustice with their secret sculpture garden of chained birds. Then a hurricane exposes the illegal art, and her parents are arrested.

Soleida escapes to Central America alone, joining the thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica while seeking asylum elsewhere. There she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose enigmatic music enchants birds and animals--and Soleida.

Together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba. Soon they discover that love isn't about falling--it's about soaring together to new heights. But wings can be fragile, and Soleida and Dariel come from different worlds. They are fighting for a better future--and the chance to be together.

The idea of a wild book on which to let words sprout is one that should speak to those with reading difficulties and to aspiring poets as well. --School Library Journal

Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Every time she tries, the letters jumble and spill off the page, leaping away like bullfrogs. How will she ever understand them?

But her mother has an idea. She gives Fefa a blank book filled with clean white pages. Think of it as a garden, she says.

Soon Fefa starts to sprinkle words across the pages of her wild book. She lets her words sprout like seedlings, shaky at first, then growing stronger and surer with each new day. And when her family is threatened, it is what Fefa has learned from her wild book that saves them.

This glowing portrait in verse of Margarita Engle's Cuban grandmother as a young girl struggling with dyslexia is not to be missed.

Destiny must learn to be strong and confident after she loses the use of one of her eyes. Without her mother to protect her or teach her, Destiny is found and taken to a rescue center in Costa Rica. The little sloth soon befriends other orphaned sloths. Her poor eyesight, however, makes it hard for her to keep her balance. Eventually Destiny begins to use all of her senses to explore the world around her. But can she learn to climb? Can she master the other skills she needs to survive on her own? And will Destiny be brave enough to return to her wild, forest home?

Join award-winning author Margarita Engle and photographer Sam Trull as they introduce you to the world of sloths in this inspiring story about overcoming obstacles and believing in yourself.

For more true animal stories of rescue, friendship, and facing challenges, check out these National Geographic Kids picture books:

• Little Larry Goes to School
• A Leap for Legadema
• Natumi Takes the Lead
• A Friend for Lakota
• Jimmy the Joey

In soaring words and stunning illustrations, Margarita Engle and Rafael L pez tell the story of Teresa Carre o, a child prodigy who played piano for Abraham Lincoln.

As a little girl, Teresa Carre o loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too--the Civil War.

Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa's music bring comfort to those who needed it most?

In this Spanish edition of the acclaimed picture book bursting with vibrance and rhythm, a girl dreams of playing the drums in 1930s Cuba, when the music-filled island had a taboo against female drummers.

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule--until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongós. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese African Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers, Drum Dream Girl tells an inspiring true story for dreamers everywhere. Now available in Spanish.

In this stirring young adult novel-in-verse from award-winning author Margarita Engle, love and conservation intertwine as two teens go on a transformative journey celebrating the power of overcoming personal struggles to make a lasting impact (Kirkus Reviews).

Ana and her mother have been living out of their car ever since her militant father became one of the FBI's most wanted. Leandro has struggled with debilitating anxiety since his family fled Cuba on a perilous raft.

One moonlit night, in a wilderness park in California, Ana and Leandro meet. Their connection is instant--a shared radiance that feels both scientific and magical. Then they discover they are not alone: a huge mountain lion stalks through the trees, one of many wild animals whose habitat has been threatened by humans.

Determined to make a difference, Ana and Leandro start a rewilding club at their school, working with scientists to build wildlife crossings that can help mountain lions find one another. If pumas can find their way to a better tomorrow, surely Ana and Leandro can too.

Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she struggles to belong. But most of the time that's okay, because she enjoys helping her parents care for the many injured animals at their veterinary clinic.

Then Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature moves to town, and aspiring writer Oriol finds herself opening up. And when she discovers that someone is threatening the life of a baby elephant at her parents' clinic, Oriol is determined to take action. As she begins to create a world of words for herself, Oriol learns it will take courage and strength to do what she thinks is right--even if it means keeping secrets from those she loves.

A beautifully written, lyrically told story about the power of friendship--between generations, between humans and animals--and the potential of poetry to inspire action, justice, and acceptance.

* Replete with lovely, nearly magical imagery...Brilliant, joyful, and deeply moving. -Kirkus, starred review

* Employing immersive free verse that conveys themes of compassion, friendship, justice, and vulnerability, Engle captures how inexplicable Oriol's grief feels, encasing it in a powerful, charitable, and brave young voice. -Publishers Weekly, starred review

* A novel written in verse that sings in your heart. -Pura Belpré Award-winning author Marjorie Agosín

When we visit mi abuelo, I help him sell
frutas, singing the names of each fruit
as we walk, our footsteps like drumbeats,
our hands like maracas, shaking...

The little girl loves visiting her grandfather in Cuba and singing his special songs to sell all kinds of fruit: mango, lim n, naranja, pi a, and more Even when they're apart, grandfather and granddaughter can share rhymes between their countries like un abrazo--a hug--made of words carried on letters that soar across the distance like songbirds.

Los seres alados han de ser libres.

Y también lo han de ser los artistas, pero el gobierno cubano ha criminalizado cualquier arte que no tenga su aprobación. Soleida y sus padres protestan contra esta injusticia con su jardín secreto de esculturas de aves encadenadas. Luego, un huracán derriba las paredes y deja al descubierto el arte ilegal, y sus padres son arrestados...

Soleida huye sola a Centroamérica y se une a miles de refugiados cubanos varados en Costa Rica mientras buscan asilo en cualquier otro sitio. Ahí, conoce a Dariel, un muchacho cubanoamericano cuya música enigmática hechiza a las aves, a los animales... y a Soleida.

Juntos trabajan para proteger el medioambiente y atraer la atención del mundo hacia los artistas presos en Cuba. Pronto descubren que el amor no consta de caer rendido, sino de volar juntos hacia nuevas alturas. Pero las alas pueden ser frágiles, y Soleida y Dariel vienen de mundos diferentes. Acaso ese futuro mejor por el que luchan incluirá la posibilidad de que estén juntos?

Cuando visitamos a abuelo, lo ayudo a vender frutas,
pregonando los nombres de cada una
mientras caminamos: nuestros pasos repican como tambores,
nuestras manos, cual maracas, que suenan
agitan los brillantes colores de las frutas...

Vivo lejos de abuelo,
pero podemos cantar rimas
de ida y vuelta entre nuestros dos pa ses,
nuestros versos en papel vuelan como aves cantoras,
cada s laba un abrazo
hecho de palabras.

Margarita is a girl from two worlds. Her heart lies in Cuba, her mother's tropical island country, a place so lush with vibrant life that it seems like a fairy tale kingdom. But most of the time she lives in Los Angeles, lonely in the noisy city and dreaming of the summers when she can take a plane through the enchanted air to her beloved island. Words and images are her constant companions, friendly and comforting when the children at school are not.

Then a revolution breaks out in Cuba. Margarita fears for her far-away family. When the hostility between Cuba and the United States erupts at the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Margarita's worlds collide in the worst way possible. How can the two countries she loves hate each other so much? And will she ever get to visit her beautiful island again?

Oriol nació en Cuba, pero vive en Santa Bárbara, California, donde no logra encontrar su sitio. Sin embargo, pasa muchos buenos momentos cuando ayuda a sus padres en la clínica veterinaria de la familia, donde cuidan animales heridos.

La primera ganadora latinoamericana de un Premio Nobel de Literatura, la poeta Gabriela Mistral, se muda entonces a Santa Bárbara, y Oriol se descubre confesándole que aspira a ser escritora. Cuando la jovencita descubra que alguien está amenazando la vida de un pequeño elefante en la clínica de sus padres, decide tomar acción para protegerlo. Necesitará poesía, coraje y fortaleza para hacer lo que cree correcto.

Una historia escrita con una profunda belleza lírica, que ilumina el poder de la amistad entre generaciones, entre humanos y animales, así como el poder de la poesía para inspirar acción, justicia y aceptación.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A powerful novel in verse from Newbery and Pura Belpré Award-winning author, Margarita Engle, about the friendship between a young girl and the poet Gabriela Mistral that leads to healing and hope for both of them.

Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she struggles to belong. But most of the time that's okay, because she enjoys helping her parents care for the many injured animals at their veterinary clinic.

Then Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature, moves to town, and aspiring writer Oriol finds herself opening up. When she discovers that someone is threatening the life of a baby elephant at her parents' clinic, Oriol is determined to take action. As she begins to create a world of words for herself, Oriol learns it will take courage and strength to do what she thinks is right--even if it means keeping secrets from those she loves.

A beautifully written, lyrically-told story about the power of friendship--between generations, between humans and animals--and the potential of poetry to inspire action, justice, and acceptance.

Eloísa ama la música, pero como su familia es muy humilde, solo puede escuchar los ritmos y melodías que entran cuando abre su ventana. Pajaritos y gatos, con sus voces, entonan coros a diario, y canciones de la radio del vecino flotan en el aire. En la calle, los niños agitan maracas y producen ritmos con tambores bongós, un laúd, un cencerro y un güiro, en fin, una orquesta.

Los sonidos del vecindario es música suficiente para Eloísa, pero cuando su mamá se enferma y a su familia se le dificulta comprar medicinas, podrá la música aliviarla del mismo modo en que consuela a Eloísa?

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle For Freedom / El árbol de la rendición: poemas de la lucha de cuba por su libertad is a lyrical, Newbery Honor-winning history in poems, and this bilingual edition has the Spanish and English text available in one book.

La Guerra Chiquita?
Cómo puede haber una guerra chiquita?
Acaso algunas muertes
son más pequeñas que otras,
dejan madres
que lloran
un poco menos?

It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much illness. Rosa is a nurse, but she dares not go to the camps. So she turns hidden caves into hospitals for those who know how to find her.

Black, white, Cuban, Spanish--Rosa does her best for everyone. Yet who can heal a country so torn apart by war?

Using the true story of the folk hero Rosa la Bayamesa, acclaimed poet Margarita Engle gives us another gripping, breathtaking account of a tumultuous period in Cuban history.

A 2009 Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the 2009 Pura Belpré Medal for Narrative
Winner of the 2009 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award
A 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year

When Tony's mother is sent to jail, he is sent to stay with a great uncle he has never met in Sierra Nevada. It is a daunting move--Tony's new world bears no semblance to his previous one. But slowly, against a remote and remarkable backdrop, the scars from Tony's troubled past begin to heal.
With his Ti and a search-and-rescue dog named Gabe by his side, he learns how to track wild animals, is welcomed to the Cowboy Church, and makes new friends at the Mountain School. Most importantly though, it is through Gabe that Tony discovers unconditional love for the first time, in Mountain Dog by Margarita Engle.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013