Claudia Mills, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Acclaimed Cuban-American poet and author Margarita Engle (The Poet Slave of Cuba) here presents a collection of free verse illuminating a painful and poignant chapter of Cuban history little known to many Americans. Cuba waged a sustained struggle for independence from Spain throughout the 19th century, including three actual wars: the Ten Years War (1868-78), the Little War (1878-80), and finally the war known to Americans as the Spanish American War, which culminated in the heartbreaking conclusion that “Spain has been defeated,/but Cuba is not victorious.” Instead, the American flag replaces the Spanish flag, and “[o]ur Cuban flag/is still forbidden.” Most of the poems are written in the imagined voice of actual historical figures Rosa Castellanos, a legendary healer, and her husband José Francisco Varona; others are in the voices of a slave hunter known as Lieutenant Death and Spanish Captain-General Weyler who is “credited” with the creation of the first modern concentration camp for Cuban peasants. As in most free verse narratives, some of the poems feel less like poetry than prose arranged artfully on the page, but some are heart-piercing gems: “The Little War?/How can there be/a little war?/Are some deaths/smaller than others,/leaving mothers/who weep/a little less?” A valuable and sobering window into the sad past of our misunderstood neighbor. 2008, Henry Holt, $16.95. Ages 8 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices 2009)
Rosa is a slave until the day in her young womanhood when her owner frees her so that he, too, can fight for Cuba’s independence from Spain. “Should I fight with weapons / or flowers and leaves?” asks Rosa the healer. She chooses flowers, and with her husband José and others she sets up hospitals in the jungle to treat the sick and the wounded. Across three wars in the struggle for a free land, Rosa sees slavery abolished in Cuba, and then concentration camps established by the Spanish government. Through it all she treats the hurt and heartache of war. When Spain finally surrenders, it is not to the Cuban fighters but to the Americans: “as the Spanish flag is lowered . . . the American flag glides upward. / Our Cuban flag is still forbidden.” Cuban American poet Margarita Engle spans almost fifty years as she transforms nineteenth-century Cuban history into a vivid story. Almost all of the speakers in Engle’s multiple-voice narrative are based on the lives of real individuals—characters who speak to the arrogance and cruelty of conquest and the yearning desire to be free. At the center is a woman who was named Rosario Castellanos Castellanos, or Rosa la Bayamesa. Facts about her life and other individuals who voice the poems, as well as additional information about Cuba’s quest for independence, are detailed in the author’s note and timeline concluding this stirring account. CCBC Category: Poetry. 2008, Henry Holt, 169 pages, $16.95. Age 12 and older.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 6))
Tales of political dissent can prove, at times, to be challenging reads for youngsters, but this fictionalized version of the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain may act as an entry to the form. The poems offer rich character portraits through concise, heightened language, and their order within the cycle provides suspense. Four characters tell the bulk of the story: Rosa, a child who grows up to be a nurse who heals the wounded, sick and starving with herbal medicine; her husband, José, who helps her move makeshift hospitals from cave to cave; Silvia, an orphaned girl who escapes a slave camp so that she may learn from Rosa; and Lieutenant Death, a hardened boy who grows up wanting only to kill Rosa and all others like her. Stretching from 1850 to 1899, these poems convey the fierce desire of the Cuban people to be free. Young readers will come away inspired by these portraits of courageous ordinary people. (author's note, historical note, chronology, references) 2008, Henry Holt, 176p, $16.95. Category: Fiction/poetry. Ages 12 up. © 2008 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lois McNicol (Library Media Connection, November/December 2008)
The history of Cuba from 1850-1899 is poignantly told in poems based upon the real life of Rosario Castellanos who sheltered wounded refugees and soldiers during 30 years of war. Rosa, a former slave who was a master at the medicinal use of herbs and flowers, became a healer of both friend and foe. A slave hunter continually pursues Rosa, hoping to kill her because she has become an icon for freedom fighters. The beauty of flora and fauna, the impoverished lifestyle, the travesty of war, and the shared hopes of peace reflect the face of war in any era, in any country. The author has the ability to weave a story filled with tension that finds victory over Spanish rule but no real freedom. Through the worst times, the desire for peace and freedom, and the ability to dream, consistently spring forth from the poems. Historical notes, a chronological timeline, selected references, and the author’s personal connection to the events presented provide the student with a deeper understanding of conditions in Cuba in the 1800s. The book’s wonderfully lyrical yet intense writing will fit well into cross-curricular units. Recommended. 2008, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 176pp., $16.95 hc. Ages 12 to 18.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May 2008 (Vol. 61, No. 9))
Author of The Poet Slave of Cuba (BCCB 7/06), Engle here turns her poetic hand to more recent Cuban history, tracing the intra-island rebellions and colonial wars of the latter half of the nineteenth century through a small group of focal characters, most of them real historical figures. The protagonist is Rosa la Bayamesa, a slave with knowledge of herbs and healing, who as a child tends recaptured slaves for her plantation owner; after she is manumitted in 1868 (a freedom not recognized by Spain), she joins the rebel forces in the hills, caring for refugees and wounded fighters. With her is her husband and fellow nurse, José; against her is General Weyler, the military governor of Cuba, and “Lieutenant Death,” a boy slavehunter in Rosa’s childhood who grows up to see her as the symbol of all he must defeat in order to succeed. Engle’s spare free verse gives voice to these characters, and the sequence (divided into five sections, three of them for the three wars of the period) vividly depicts the reality of an existence where hiding and resisting is a norm for half a century; she also manages to convey a simple yet lucid overview of the political and social forces clashing over the island’s fate. Since Cuba’s current transition is bringing the island again to the fore, the subject will have particular interest, and readers unfamiliar with the island’s past will find much food for thought in the correlation to the U.S.’s revolution and the World War II resistance efforts. With its compact writing and tight character focus, the poems could also serve as effective readalouds or readers’ theater, and they’ll certainly enhance reader understanding of the history of our side of the world. A historical note helps differentiate fact from creative license; a chronology and a references list are also included Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Holt, [176p].; Reviewed from galleys, $16.95. Grades 7-12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2008)
Between 1868 and 1898, Cuba fought three wars to gain independence. Engle uses these historical events to craft a powerful free-verse narrative told through soliloquies of various revolutionary characters, including folk heroine Rosa la Bayamesa, a former slave and healer. Engle's haunting poetry explores themes of oppression, war, and human rights through the lens of one woman's determination. Timeline. Bib. Category: Nonfiction-Literature. 2008, Holt, 168pp, $16.95 (hb). Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Ellen Simmons (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 21, No. 1))
This haunting book of free verse tells the story of Rosa de Bayamesa, 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. Based on actual events and real people, the poems outline Rosa’s life from a young slave girl in 1850, 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. 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. Jose Varona, a freed slave, 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. The man known as the Lieutenant of Death, who has grown up hunting slaves, vows to find and kill Rosa to eliminate the symbol of hope and resistance she has become. The alternating perspectives both refine the characters and dramatically move the narrative forward. The verse is clear, concise, and compelling. This is a wonderful book, powerful and simple at the same time. The author offers a personal connection and a historical note and time line at the back of the book that help the reader realize that real people faced these fears and hardships. The book offers an excellent way to introduce and promote discussion of historical events such as Cuba’s fight for independence, the Spanish-American war, and slavery. This is that rare book where the remembrance of it is even more powerful than the reading of it. Nonfiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 9 and up. 2008, Holt, 169p., $16.95. Ages 14 up.

Stephanie Petruso (VOYA, June 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 2))
Cuba's fight for independence from Spain in the 1800s is told here through short poems that span three wars, fifty years and several viewpoints. Throughout the fighting, rebels and refugees hid in the forests and caves. In assisting the soldiers, nurses used their knowledge about plants and medicine to heal, earning legendary status among the Cubans. Rosa is a child when the story begins. Poems from her viewpoint tell of being considered a witch for wanting to learn about healing. She feels compassion for the slaves caught by slave hunters and cannot understand the cruelty she sees in others. Her poems alternate with those of the slave hunter's young son, known as "Lieutenant Death," to show the perspective of hate and intolerance that fuels the war. As time moves on, Rosa becomes one of the nurses who hides in caves and heals the injured. She treats everyone, even those fighting on the other side, earning her many friends-and enemies. Her husband's poems are introduced to tell of those want to protect her and of how her kindness changes the people she touches. This book is a quick read and offers a rare glimpse into a historical period that is often overlooked in schools. The poems are short but incredibly evocative of what it feels like to be fighting oppression. It will be a great choice to hand to reluctant readers or to history students to humanize a lesson about Hispanic heritage or the Spanish American War. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2008, Henry Holt, 169p.; Biblio. Chronology., $16.95. Ages 11 to 18.