Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle

Engle, Margartita. Tropical Secrets. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.

ISBN: 9780805089363

“Tropical Secrets” by Margarita Engle is a verse novel that covers historically accurate information through fictional characters.  The novel follows Daniel, a Jewish refugee, and Paloma, a Cuban native, through the events of the Holocaust and its aftermath.  The novel is a series of poems, each titled by the narrator’s name.  The table of contents contains 4 dates: June 1939, July 1939, December 1941, and April 1942.  The book spans these 3 years.  The poems do not have any specific format and are all varying lengths.  Each serves to give a personal account of the historical events and an understanding of the tension between different cultures and religions.

Daniel

When I realize that Summer Carnival

Is a religious festival,

I almost change my mind

About dancing.

My parents would not approve

Of celebrating a Catholic saint’s birthday.

But David explains that Carnival

Also marks the end of a year’s

Long, exhausting sugar harvest,

And seasons, he assures me,

Are a miracle even city people

Can understand

All over the world.

I think this novel would be a great read aloud to a class over a period of time.  I wouldn't spend as much time focusing on the style or the format of the poems.  I’d explain the purpose of the verse novel.  The poems are the vehicle for telling an entire story.  I’d have each student read a poem aloud a day until we completed the novel.