Henry Holt
2011
145p.
Quebrado has been a slave on captain Bernadino de Talavera's pirate ship for years, but when a hurricane sinks the ship and kills most of the crew, Quebrado escapes to safety and finds acceptance and refuge in a nearby village.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle
Henry Holt
2011
145p.
Quebrado has been a slave on captain Bernadino de Talavera's pirate ship for years, but when a hurricane sinks the ship and kills most of the crew, Quebrado escapes to safety and finds acceptance and refuge in a nearby village.
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Engle's written a story not often/never? told about natives on a Caribbean island who've run into Spanish explorers/pirates. Tells story from multiple viewpoints--the former slave who's 1/2 Taino, 1/2 Spanish; the chief's daughter whose father refuses to let her marry the fisherman she loves; the fisherman; the incompetent Spanish pirate; the explorer who's a prisoner of the pirate...
ReplyDeleteLots of different voices and stories and themes. The writing is clear yet I didn't find myself astounded by the language or the story. Perhaps this is my fault as the reader--as an adult, I interpret the story differently than perhaps a young person would.
Would be useful for 6th grade and older students studying the history of Cuba and the islands, from Columbus forward. Seems ironic that I read this on Columbus Day!