Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Book Review: The Lightning Dreamer / Margarita Engle

Set in Cuba starting in 1827, this a story about Gertrudia Gomez de Avellaneda, a young poet who hid her abolitionist messages in her poetry.

Meet Tula (the childhood name of Gertrudia), her bother, her mother, and the woman who though free still took care of the family

Imagine what it would be like to watch slaves walk by your home.

Imagine being "sold" into an arranged marriage at 14 years of age.

Imagine not being allowed to go to school, to read, to write.

Imagine dreaming of a world where gender and race do not dictate who you may become.

Mix that all into a novel in verse and you have the magic of this book.


"I think of my feather pen
as something magical
that still belongs 
to a wing.

All I need
is paper, ink,
and the courage
to let wild words soar."

 

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