Having two different identities always makes you question your place in life. What is the right answer to a lifestyle that you think is okay but then get judged at by all the people around you?

Es la historia de una niña que tiene una madre Cubana y un padre Americano y que se siente que tiene dos identidades. Narra sus aventuras en Cuba y durante la guerra fria .Son sus recuerdos hasta que cumple 14 años .

A memoir in verse about the author's childhood, growing up between two countries and two cultures: her American life in California, and her island life in Cuba - until the Missile Crisis and American travel to Cuba is sharply curtailed, if not impossible.

Quotes

Is there any way that two people
from faraway places
can ever really
understand each other's
daydreams? (37)

If only I could just be myself,
instead of half puzzle
and half riddle. (49)

Books are enchanted. Books help me travel.
Books help me breathe. (54)

It really is possible to feel
like two people
at the same time,
when your parents
grandparents
memories
words
come from two
different
worlds. (58)

Some of the sights
that Mami describes
as dire poverty
look like such
luxurious wealth
to a city girl
who loves
farms. (93)

There's something about knowing
the names and faces
of nature's creations
that helps me feel
almost at home
in my sharply divided
shrinking
world. (128)

I feel like the last survivor
of an ancient tribe,
the only girl in the world
who understands
her language. (Solitary, 138)

Right wing or left wing, tyrants always
try to control communication.
They always
fail. (Secret Languages, 179)

I feel like every creature on earth
just might be mysteriously linked,
as we wander from one place
to another, constantly learning
about one another's ways. (180)

Speaking almost feels
like having
wings. (181) ( )

A beautiful way to share a memoir that involves poetry. ( )

This is a beautiful memoir written by Margarita Engle about her life growing up half Cuban and half American. She shares stories of her childhood and growing up during the Cold War. Her poem-like writing style is easy to read and follow. She uses beautiful descriptive words to enhance the reader's view of what she went through. This would be a great read aloud for 5th graders, and a great read for intermediate and advanced students. ( )