The Poet Slave of Cuba

This book was very interesting to me. I was not sure what to expect between the genre and the subject matter. I have never experienced a novel told through poetry the way this one is. The poetry is absolutely beautiful in this novel. Margarita Engle does such a wonderful job of weaving this haunting biography together through the use of multiple voices/perspectives to create a tapestry. The characters are developed so well through the poetic vignettes that we truly feel as though these characters are sitting in front of us telling their story.

I found myself rushing through the portions where Juan Manzano tells about the punishment and torture he received, thanking Don Nicholas for his kindness, hating La Marquesa De Prado Ameno for her cruelty, and feeling the anguish of a mother watching her child suffer with Maria Del Pilar. Each voice tells a different story; portrays a unique yet equally important aspect of the slavery. This novel provides the reader with perspectives not often explored in a slavery discussion. It also provides a different background setting instead of the Deep South/Cotton backdrop, and yet it still gives us insight into the history of this country as well as Cuba.

I think this would be a good book to use with the entire class in some form or fashion. It is very emotional and graphic in places, that I think it would be difficult to leave students alone with it, particularly middle school students.