About this title: It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much illness. Rosa is a nurse, but she dares not go to the camps. So she turns hidden caves into hospitals for those who know how to find her.
Black, white, Cuban, Spanish--Rosa does her best for everyone. Yet who can heal a country so torn apart by war? Acclaimed poet Margarita Engle has created another breathtaking portrait of Cuba.
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Date Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN-13:9780805086744ISBN:0805086749
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780805086744. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: HENRY HOLT & CO
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780805086744ISBN:0805086749
Description: New. It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much illness. Rosa is a nurse, but she dares not go to the camps. So she turns hidden cav... read more
"I love a book that ends in peace. Through the whole book I was in agony with the "mambi" rebels while they yearned for peace and freedom from Spanish rule. The structure of the book flowed in poems. Each poem was a clear voice from a character. When read in succession, we learn the story of Cuba's fight for peace. We learn about the great warrior against death, Rosario Castellanos, who used the plants God had given her to treat all who came to her, regardless of their uniform. We learn about the first ever concentration camps, called reconcentration camps ordered by Captain Weyler, established to weed Cuba of its peasant population. And we learn how Cuba was helped by the American armies many years too late. The book is structured in five sections, making it easy to follow the time that elapses between each section. Engle gives us additional information at the end of the story of her personal connection to Cuba, a timeline of events, what characters were fiction and which were based on real people, and a bibliography. From a teachers perspective, there are historical references to Spain and literary theme of freedom and life that could be pulled out and chewed on a bit with students grades 7th and up. Great book!"
"This Newbery winner is well worth reading. The subtitle is misleading. Yes, the poems center on Cuba's 19th C struggle for independence--but they tell a story in 5 voices, the barely fictionalized story of an amazing woman, a curandera who uses jungle herbs and home remedies to patch up fighters and their victims on both sides of the conflicts. And the conflicts differ and deepen: first, escaped slaves against slave takers; then freed slaves and their ex masters against Spanish authorities; then Cubans of all kinds against the Spanish; then Cubans and Americans against the Spanish. Though I taught American history for years, I didn't know the rest of the story of the Spanish American war--that it was merely the ending of an eighty year struggle for freedom. Unfortunately, this story ends with the Americans taking over Cuba and conveniently forgets to mention the Americans granted Cuba its independence within 5 years after the end of the Spanish American war (though the Americans had grabbed some privileges for American businesses and reserved the right to intervene militarily)."
"This award winning novel in verse covers a part of history I knew nothing of - Cuba in the mid to late 1800's. From that perspective, I loved the book. The novel reads quickly because of the verse genre. Each poem is told in a clear voice from the perspective of the characters central to the story. Rosa and her husband, Juan, are nurses/healers to runaway slaves during three Cuban wars - begun when slave owners released their slaves in Spanish ruled Cuba. Lieutenant Death, tells of the hunt to find the elusive Rosa who hides in caves in the jungle and treats both runaway slaves and soldiers in the enemy army with herbs and things from nature gathered in the forest. Silvia, a young runaway slave who finds Rosa is eventually taught Rosa's treatments. The cycle of war continues...
I felt that the book lacked depth and was somewhat repetitious at times. I think it would be a hard sell to most teens but would be a great support piece for teachers studying this place and time and/or related themes. It would be a great read aloud and discussion starter."
"This book was written as a poem describing the several attempts of the Cuban people to win their freedom from the Spaniards. It accounts for all the emotional and physical struggles this small group of fighters encountered during their long struggle for freedom. The poem is written from the perspective of several different characters from both sides of the revolution which truly gives us a rounded view of the conflict and struggles of war. The central character is Rosa, known as a natural healer by many, and as a witch by others. We follow her story from a young girl all the way to adulthood. We feel her pain, frustrations,joys and triumphs. She truly is a well defined and rounded character that you can't help but sympathize with. This book was given the Newbery honor award and also the Pura Belpre award. There are historical references to Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" and the famous Clara Barton and the Red Cross. I really enjoyed reading this book because of the fluency of the language. Once I started to read it, I did not put it down until I was done, which for me is very rare. It really helped shed some light on a period of Cuban history that I wasn't aware of. I think this would be a great book to use in the 7th and 8th grade classrooms as a supplement to a history lesson. It would really give the students a way to personify the realities and ironies of war and what it truly means to be free."
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