Monday, December 19, 2016

Lion Island by Margarita Engle - ADVISABLE

Engle, Margarita  Lion Island, 160 pgs.  Atheneum Books, 2016.  $16.99  Content: Language: G; Violence: PG-13; Mature Content: G.  

Antonio lives in Cuba and is a messenger for a wealthy Chinese man.  As he sees the different parts of his country he realizes that there is great injustices among the many workers.  There are indentured servants from China and slaves from Africa and they can’t seem to break from the oppressive hold of their owners.  Antonia befriends Wing and Fin and they try to help free people through the telling of their stories.  

This book is based on a true story and the history of Cuba is fascinating.  The book is written in verse and is sometimes very poetic, which makes it more of a middle school/high school read even though the cover looks like it’s for younger readers.  The violence is PG-13 because of the way the people are treated.  

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

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