Reading Journal 10

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
By: Margarita Engle

This book was one I was dreading to read. I thought the title sounded interesting and after flipping through the pages, found the illustrations great. My problem lied in that I struggle with reading poetry in such long story form and was not sure if I would like this book since it seemed to be just that. SURPRISE the book was awesome!

The story is told very well through poem and I love the use of Spanish words throughout. I felt that was important to the culture of Juan and should be used. I enjoyed that the poems seemed to be free verse and flow nicely, which led me to think that most students would find it easy to read also. The illustrations played well to the image I thought Juan would make himself about his story. The words and artwork together paint a wonderful image of Juan’s life. This book is aimed well at the older young adult crowd, because Juan is of this age, it is an easy read, and it has much to teach children. I feel that all students should read this book. It has an important message and is a story that all young readers should be aware of.

I do caution readers, this book has some parts that are hard to take in and can be a little unpleasant. I do think they are written well, however and need to be addressed to tell Juan’s story in a way that is necessary to get a full scope of his struggles.