Soaring Earth

 

Bibliography

Engle, M. (2019). Soaring earth : a companion memoir to Enchanted air. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Plot Summary

This verse memoir focuses on Engle’s life from 1966-1973. During this time in her life, she misses her homeland of Cuba and must figure out what to do post-high school. 

Critical Analysis

The Cold War has made travel to her mother’s homeland of Cuba illegal in the late 1960s. So Margarita dreams of traveling anywhere else. Anywhere that will take her away from her American home in Los Angeles, California.

Throughout the memoir, Engle struggles with her Cuban heritage. One poem, Identity, speaks of her struggles and her attempts to connect. “Even though I can’t feel/like a real cubanita anymore,/I still fill my room with colors from the tropics,” (Engle, 19). Another way Engle struggled with her identity was in the way she attached herself to different male figures (Army M. and Rebel M.) Rebel M. contributes to her dropping out of Berkley with his protest - the Third World Strike. “He assumes I’m Chicana, with ancestry/from Mexico…” (Engle, 63). “Black, Chicano, Asian, Native American/ I don’t fit any of the four categories/of ethnic classes demanded/by strikers, but I’d be eager to sign up/for any courses that teaches forgotten history” (Engle, 64). When she admits to him that she is cubana, he becomes upset. 

Rebel M. also idolized Che Guevara. But Margarita Engle has a different opinion of him. “He was also a medical doctor/who joined my ancestral island’s revolution/ and then chose to kill people instead of healing them./He shot my relatives after they fought/with him/not against him” (Engle, 67). This is an important distinction because many people admire Che Guevara and his war tactics. However, because she is from Cuba, Engle's provides a different perspective that may inform readers of what Che Guevara wrought upon the people of Cuba. 

Eventually, she finds a way to belong at college when she volunteers to tutor migrant farmworker children. She is accepted as a cousin despite being cubana. In her tutoring, she wonders why there aren’t bilingual stories to help the whole family. The parents of the migrant farmworker children ask Engles what “Cuba” means. “Un isla del Caribe, I answer, wishing/that my mother’s Caribbean island hadn’t vanished/from so many emotional/maps” (Engle, 73). 

Later, at community college, Engle once again becomes involved in a protest. But this time she is more accepted than before. “Poor people don’t care if I’m a bit different,/as long as we’re united for the same/causes” (Engle, 137).

Gender equality is touched upon within the memoir in a poem titled Women’s Liberation. Her mother had to quit school and find a paying job at the age of 14 because her mother could only afford to send one child to school. Her mother was meant to earn money until she was old enough for marriage while Engle’s uncle received an education. 

Another important theme in this memoir is that sometimes it takes a while to learn who you are. She attempted a four-year-university straight out of high school, but it wasn’t for her. So she went back home and attended community college before transferring. She lost and found her love of writing. Even though there were times she didn’t feel Cuban enough, she held on tight to her heritage. 

Review Excerpt(s)

School Library Journal Best Nonfiction Book of 2019

“Engle shines a light on the uncertainty and restlessness of the time period—the Vietnam War; civil, women’s, and labor rights movements; the rise of hippie and drug culture; and more—with raw, painful, but always poignant honesty. . . . An unforgettable peek into an important and relevant time period brought into perspective by a masterly poet. A must-have for every collection.” School Library Journal

“Contemporary youth will find parallels with Engle as she seeks connection with a peer group, a close friend, or a lover—someone with whom she can make sense of her context. This companion to her award-winning Enchanted Air packs a historical wallop. . . . The memoir ends on a positive note, as she finds her place with nature, poetry, and a life partner.” -- Booklist

Connections 

-Activities

• The book is divided into different sections and time periods of her life. Have students analyze each section and determine how the events in the section relates to the title it was given. Not only that, but each poem has its own personal title. 

• As a pre-reading activity, arrange the sections and poem titles together. Have students make predictions on what each section will be about with this information. 

• Despite being proud of her Cuban heritage, Engle is constantly assumed to be Mexican or within another culture. Why is it important to be aware of someone's distinctive culture or ethnicity? 

• Create a visual timeline of important events within the memoir. 

• Provide students with background knowledge on Che Guevara, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. These all play a major role in Engle memoir. 

• Engle ends up majoring in agronomy which is crop production. She also takes a class on arthropods. The poems could be used in an introduction to botany. It could also be used for students to understand the importance in knowing the science behind crop production. 

• Students could also research the different issues in crop production (drought, pests, fertilizer, etc.). 

• The book can be used for a unit in memoirs/autobiographies/personal narratives. Not only does it serve as a memoir, but it is in poetry format which shows students that narratives don’t only have to be in prose.