Island Creatures and Evamar by Margarita Engle: Book Pairing
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th to October 15th) I am pairing and showcasing two novels in verse by Margarita Engle: Island Creatures and Evamar.
Both novels were released to glowing reviews and received prestigious awards and honors.
Island Creatures, a Golden Kite Award Winner for Young Adult Fiction, was termed “[f]anciful, hopeful, and heartfelt” by Kirkus Reviews and “a moving love story” by Publishers Weekly. Booklist praised Engle’s “Lush yet careful language”.
Evamar, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, was released to several starred reviews. It was deemed “Spellbinding” by Publishers Weekly, described as “A stunning, sensory work” by Booklist, and praised for its “beautifully emotive verse” by Kirkus Reviews.
Suggested Writing Prompt: In “The Only Guy At A Feminist Book Club,” a poem in Island Creatures that I enjoyed, Engle describes one of the protagonists’ reflections while at a book club: “I’m bursting with hope for time alone with Vida / but my older hermanas insist that I bring her / to their passionate discussion of The Poet X, / Brown Girl Dreaming, and A Time to Dance. / I hope Elizabeth Acevedo, Jacqueline Woodson, / and Padma Venkatraman will all forgive me / for not quite concentrating on every word / in their powerful verse books, while my mind / keeps slipping back / to that last kiss/ and the next one…” (Engle 72) Inspired by this poem, students could write a poem about their book club or library that includes an allusion to their favorite books.
Biography:
Margarita Engle is the Cuban-American winner of the first Newbery Honor ever awarded to a Latino. Her award winning young adult novels in verse include The Surrender Tree, The Poet Slave of Cuba, and The Lightning Dreamer, winner of the PEN USA Award. Engle's most recent books are Orangutanka, Drum Dream Girl, The Sky Painter, and Enchanted Air. All of these books are to be released in 2015. For news and updates, visit http://margaritaengle.com/. She lives in central California, where she enjoys helping her husband with his volunteer work for wilderness search and rescue dog training programs.