The Poet Slave of Cuba-A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle
The Poet Slave of Cuba is the 2008 Pura Belpre award winner for best narrative. The story is like a time line of Juan’s life as a slave. Juan was born to slave parents, Maria and Toribio. Maria cares for her mistress Dona Beatriz while Toribio is a tailor. Dona takes Juan for her own allowing him to live in the palace but because he has the talent for memorizing verses, poems and plays, she uses him to entertain her guests. Juan’s parents are granted freedom and all their unborn children are also granted freedom because Juan was baptized as Dona’s son once she has passed away. Maria refuses to leave slavery because that would mean leaving her son behind with Dona, she to if free but not actually. However, all the promises and deals are broken once Dona dies. Juan is sent to live with his godparents where as he says free but not really free. Juan is mistreated at the hands of La Marquesa and through his many beatings and imprisonments she still finds peace in his verses. Each new page tells you of the pain and sorrow in Juan’s life, yet you must turn to the next part to see if something good, great becomes him. Yes, they do but they do not last long and then the abuse starts over again. This is a must read, and will open the eyes of it young reader’s that slavery not only affected African Americans but other cultures as well.
Los Gatos Black on Halloween written by Marisa Montes and Illustrated by Yui Morales
Los Gatos Black on Halloween is the 2008 Pura Belpre award winner for best illustration. In this picture book a black cat, Los Gatos, goes on a journey seeing all the frights that come out on Halloween, from witches, skeletons, pumpkins, ghosts, vampires and casa for a ball and finally the most scary of all the horrors, real humans. The illustrator uses light and dark colors to create a frightening dark and suspenseful image. The book uses rhyme to move the reader from one page to the next along with suspense. In fact, each scene of the novel does include a picture of the “black cat” as he travels through the night. The use of words written in Spanish also allows the reader to follow along with the story. This book could be used to help model writing a short story using a patten of events that is predictible.
Los Gatos Black on Halloween is the 2008 Pura Belpre award winner for best illustration. In this picture book a black cat, Los Gatos, goes on a journey seeing all the frights that come out on Halloween, from witches, skeletons, pumpkins, ghosts, vampires and casa for a ball and finally the most scary of all the horrors, real humans. The illustrator uses light and dark colors to create a frightening dark and suspenseful image. The book uses rhyme to move the reader from one page to the next along with suspense. In fact, each scene of the novel does include a picture of the “black cat” as he travels through the night. The use of words written in Spanish also allows the reader to follow along with the story. This book could be used to help model writing a short story using a patten of events that is predictible.
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