![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This is a wonderful book, powerful and simple at the same time. The verse is clear, concise, and compelling. The alternating perspectives both refine the characters and dramatically move the narrative forward. These include: Jose Varona, (freed from slavery), marries Rosa and helps her establish (and hide) makeshift hospitals in forests, mountains, and caves Silvia, a young refugee, escapes the reconcentration camp* and joins Rosa to serve as a nurse and learn the healing cures and the man known as the Lieutenant of Death, who has grown up hunting people who had escaped from slavery, vows to find and kill Rosa to eliminate the symbol of hope and resistance she has become. The author uses several voices to convey the longing for freedom, the hope for peace, the fear of detection, and the sorrow and horror of war. This haunting book of free verse by Margarita Engle tells the story of Rosa la Bayamesa (Rosa Maria Castellanos,1834-1907), a nurse who uses medicinal plants and herbal remedies to help heal soldiers, slaves, rebels, and refugees during Cuba’s three wars for independence from Spain, 1868-1898.īased on actual events and real people, the poems in Surrender Tree outline Rosa’s life: born into slavery learning about healing plants and flowers through 30 years of war as a self-appointed nurse seeking freedom and fighting death and sickness with her natural potions. ![]()
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