- Arts & Crafts
- Fitness and Health
- Outdoor Recreation
- Biography & Memoir
- Business
- History
- All Nonfiction
- See all
Winged beings are meant to be free. And so are artists, but the Cuban government has criminalized any art that doesn't meet their approval. Soleida and her parents protest this injustice with their secret sculpture garden of chained birds. Then a hurricane exposes the illegal art, and her parents are arrested.
Soleida escapes to Central America alone, joining the thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica while seeking asylum elsewhere. There she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose enigmatic music enchants birds and animals—and Soleida.
Together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba. Soon they discover that love isn't about falling—it's about soaring together to new heights. But wings can be fragile, and Soleida and Dariel come from different worlds. They are fighting for a better future—and the chance to be together.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
April 18, 2023 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797156811
- File size: 50884 KB
- Duration: 01:46:00
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from February 6, 2023
After a hurricane uncovers her parents’ hidden sculptures of chained birds, leading to their arrest for violating Cuban policies regarding artistic liberty, Soleida is forced to flee alone. The 16-year-old travels through Central America before becoming stranded in a refugee camp in Costa Rica. Meanwhile, 16-year-old California native Dariel, the son of famous actors, enchants with his guitar, all while feeling trapped by his parents’ fame and their plans for his life. When his fingertips are burned in a fire, rendering him unable to play his guitar, he joins his abuelo in interviewing a diasporic community called los Cubanos de Costa Rica for a forthcoming book. There, Dariel meets Soleida, and their shared passion for artistic freedom and eco-activism inspires them to start a human rights campaign; they seek to liberate Soleida’s parents and other Cuban artists while saving the endangered wildlife and forests in Costa Rica. Employing stunningly immersive verse and distinct alternating perspectives, Engle (Singing with Elephants) sets Soleida and Dariel’s developing relationship against a backdrop of advocacy to present a profoundly romantic read that prioritizes topical issues, such as environmental and refugee crises, and political oppression of artists. English- and Spanish-language editions publish simultaneously. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Agency. -
AudioFile Magazine
Aida Reluzco and Andre Bellido do a beautiful job of narrating this story about the uncertainty of young love. Soleida flees her native Cuba and eventually finds herself alone in a Costa Rican refugee camp. Dariel is visiting from California. He comes from a wealthy family, and, at first, the pair do not seem to have much in common. But soon they develop intense feelings for each other. They are both concerned about climate change and committed to helping environmental causes. Reluzco and Bellido both switch from English to Cuban Spanish easily. They have a youthful quality in their voices that adds authenticity to the listening experience. Reluzco is good at conveying Soleida's precarious mental state by adding the right amount of hesitation to her delivery. A.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
-
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
Languages
- English
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.