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Pura Belpre Books, Del Sol BooksAuthor : Margarita Engle, Illustrator : Sean Qualls
5th Grade and up

The Poet Slave of Cuba

Del Sol Books, Get The Complete SetThe Poet Slave of Cuba, Hardcover, English, Book, Margarita Engle, Sean Qualls, 5th Grade and up, 9780805077063, $16.95
The Poet Slave of Cuba, Softcover, English, Book, Margarita Engle, Sean Qualls, 5th Grade and up, 9780312659288, $9.99

$448.07 for the Story Collection Pura Belpre English Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 24 Hardcover English Books and 18 Softcover English Books

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The Poet Slave of Cuba, Del Sol BooksPura Belpre Award Winning Book in 2008 for Narrative

A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet.  Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty.  Powerful, haunting poems and breathtaking illustrations create a portrait of a life in which even the pain of slavery could not extinguish the capacity for hope.

 School Library Journal : Grade 7 Up-This is an absolutely lovely book about the unlovely subject of slavery. It is the biography of an extraordinary young man, with extraordinary intellectual powers, who was born into slavery in Cuba in 1797. Told in verse, it recounts the sufferings and trials of Manzano. As a boy, he was capable of memorizing and reciting poetic verses in many different languages. He could recount epic tales read to him, and in this way served as the entertainment for his mistress and her many guests. Later, when he became the property of a crueler mistress, his talents helped him endure numerous beatings and confinements. It is amazing that he was able to survive, and even more astonishing that he was able to maintain his humanity and his sensitive poetic nature. Manzano's sufferings are almost too painful to read about, but the experience is made bearable by Engle's skillful use of verse. Qualls's drawings are suitably stark and compelling, wonderfully complementing the text. This is an exceptional book on two levels. First, it introduces Manzano to an American public. Second, it introduces readers to slavery as it was practiced in a country other than the United States. Both are noteworthy. This is a book that should be read by young and old, black and white, Anglo and Latino.

Booklist : Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. In plain, stirring free verse, Engle dramatizes the boyhood of the nineteenth-century Cuban slave Juan Francisco Manzano, who secretly learned to read and wrote poetry about beauty and courage in his world of unspeakable brutality. His present-tense narrative begins when he is six, when his parents are set free. He remains behind with a mistress who treats him like a pet, making him perform for guests. When she dies, five years later, he is given to a cruel, crazy woman, who has him beaten and locked up at whim. He doesn't escape until he is nearly 16. Side-by-side with Juan's anguished voice are the narratives of other characters, including his mother, his demonic owners, and the white child who secretly tries to help. Qualls' occasional black-and-white sketches express Juan's suffering and strength, and a brief afterword fills in historical background. Related in fast-moving poetry, the cruelty is vivid, as is the boy's amazing inner power: tied, gagged, and beaten, Juan knows his owner "can't hear the stories I tell myself." Today's readers will hear the stories, though--and never forget them. 

Story Collection Pura Belpre :
Antes de ser libres, Before We Were Free, Del Sol BooksArrorro mi nino Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games, Del Sol BooksBajo las palmas reales, Under the Royal Palms, Del Sol BooksBarrio Joses Neighborhood, Del Sol BooksBeisbol en Abril, Baseball in April, Del Sol BooksBook Fiesta - Book Day, Del Sol BooksCesar, Del Sol BooksChato y los amigos pachangueros, Chato and the Party Animals, Del Sol BooksChato y su cena, Chatos Kitchen, Del Sol BooksCosechando esperanza, Harvesting Hope, Del Sol BooksCuadros de familia - Family Pictures, Del Sol BooksCuba 15Dear Primo, Del Sol BooksDel ombligo de la luna - From the Bellybutton of the Moon, Del Sol BooksDevolver al Remitente, Return to Sender, Del Sol BooksDiego Bigger than Life, Del Sol BooksDona Flor, Del Sol BooksEl Gallo de Bodas - The Bossy Gallito, Del Sol BooksEn mi familia - In My Family, Del Sol BooksEl loro en el horno, Parrot in the Oven, Del Sol BooksEl Sonador, The Dreamer, Del Sol BooksEsperanza renace, Esperanza Rising, Del Sol BooksFederico Garcia Lorca, Del Sol BooksFiesta Babies, Del Sol BooksFirefly Letters, Del Sol BooksFrida, Del Sol BooksGathering the Sun, Del Sol BooksGiving - Thanks, Del Sol BooksGrandmas Gift, Del Sol BooksIguanas en la nieve - Iguanas in the Snow, Del Sol BooksJuan Bobo busca trabajo, Juan Bobo Goes to Work, Del Sol BooksJust a Minute, Del Sol BooksJust in Case, Del Sol BooksLa flor de oro, The Golden Flower, Del Sol BooksMama and Papa Have a Store, Del Sol BooksLaughing Out Loud I Fly, Del Sol BooksLa vasija que Juan Fabrico, The Pot that Juan Built, Del Sol BooksLa velita de los cuentos - The Storytellers Candle, Del Sol BooksLos Gatos Black on Halloween, Del Sol BooksMartina Una Cucarachita Muy Linda - Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, Del Sol BooksMas alla de mi, Reaching Out, Del Sol BooksMe Frida, Del Sol BooksMi diario de aqui hasta alla - My Diary from Here to There, Del Sol BooksMis colores mi mundo - My Colors My World, Del Sol BooksMy Abuelita, Del Sol BooksMy Name is Celia, Del Sol BooksMy Name is Gabito, Del Sol BooksNinety Miles to Havana, Del Sol BooksOle Flamenco, Del Sol BooksPablo Remembers, Del Sol BooksPapa and Me, Del Sol BooksPrimer dia en las uvas, First Day in Grapes, Del Sol BooksQue puedes hacer con un rebozo - What Can You Do with a Rebozo, Del Sol BooksSenderos Fronterizos, Breaking Through, Del Sol BooksSnapshots from the Wedding, Del Sol BooksSpirits of the High Mesa, Del Sol BooksThe Poet Slave of Cuba, Del Sol BooksThe Surrender Tree, Del Sol BooksThe Tequila Worm, Del Sol BooksTomates risuenos - Laughing Tomatoes, Del Sol BooksUna isla como tu, An Island Like You, Del Sol BooksVentanas magicas - Magic Windows, Del Sol BooksYo Naomi Leon, Becoming Naomi Leon, Del Sol Books

Ray, Del Sol Books