Isla de Leones (Lion Island): El Guerrero Cubano de Las Palabras, Paperback

Description

The Spanish translation of this "beautifully written, thought provoking" (School Library Journal, starred review) novel in verse by Young People's Poet Laureate Margarita Engle, which tells the story of Antonio Chuffat, a young man of African, Chinese, and Cuban descent who becomes a champion for civil rights.

Asia, Africa, Europe--Antonio Chuffat's ancestors clashed and blended on the beautiful island of Cuba. The country is fighting for freedom from Spain. Enslaved Africans and near-enslaved Chinese indentured servants are forced to work long, backbreaking hours in the fields.

So Antonio feels lucky to have found a good job as a messenger, where his richly blended cultural background is an asset. Through his work he meets Wing, a young Chinese fruit seller who barely escaped the anti-Asian riots in San Francisco, and his sister Fan, a talented singer. With injustice all around them, the three friends are determined to prove that violence is not the only way to gain liberty.

Asia, frica, Europa: los ancestros de Antonio chocaron y se mezclaron en la hermosa isla de Cuba. El pa s lucha por independizarse de Espa a. Los esclavos africanos y los chinos bajo servidumbre por endeudamiento son forzados a trabajar largas horas, rompi ndose el lomo en los campos de cultivo.

Por eso Antonio se siente afortunado de haber conseguido trabajo como mensajero, haciendo que su rica mezcla cultural sea una ventaja. A traves de su trabajo conoce a Wing, un joven chino vendedor de frutas que escap a duras penas de las revueltas contra los asi ticos en California, y su hermana Fan, una talentosa cantante. Con la injusticia rode ndolos por todas partes, los tres amigos han decidido que en estos tiempos de rebeli n violenta y esclavitud, las armas no han de ser el nico modo de ganar la libertad.

Perturbadora, a la vez que hermosa, esta es la historia de un muchacho que se convirti en campe n de los derechos civiles de quienes no pod an hablar por s mismos.

About the author

Margarita Engle is the national Young People's Poet Laureate, and the first Latino to receive that honor. She is the Cuban-American author of many verse novels, including The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor winner, and The Lightning Dreamer, a PEN Literary Award for Young Adult Literature winner. Her verse memoir, Enchanted Air, received the Pura Belpr Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor, and was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, among others. Her picture book Drum Dream Girl received the Charlotte Zolotow Award. Margarita was born in Los Angeles, but developed a deep attachment to her mother's homeland during childhood summers with relatives. She continues to visit Cuba as often as she can. Visit her at MargaritaEngle.com.

Margarita Engle es una poeta y novelista cubano-americana cuyos libros incluyen El rbol de la rendici n, ganador del premio de honor Newbery, el premio Jane Adams para libros infantiles, el premio Pura Belpr de autor, el premio de las Am ricas y el premio de poes a Claudia Lewis; El poeta esclavo de Cuba, ganador del premio Pura Belpr para autores y el premio de las Am ricas; Secretos tropicales; Las cartas de las luci rnagas; Los bailadores del hurac n; El libro salvaje; El so ador del rel mpago, ganador del premio literario de PEN para literatura juvenil; Gente plateada; Una ni a, un tambor, un sue o, ganador del premio Charlotte Zolotow; Isla de leones; y su libro de memorias Aire encantando, ganador del premio Pura Belpr y del premio de honor Walter Dean Mayers. Vive con su esposo al norte de California. Vis tala en MargaritaEngle.com.