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37th out of 104 books
—
460 voters
Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
Daniel has escaped Nazi Germany with nothing but a desperate dream that he might one day find his parents again. But that golden land called New York has turned away his ship full of refugees, and Daniel finds himself in Cuba.
As the tropical island begins to work its magic on him, the young refugee befriends a local girl with some painful secrets of her own. Yet even in Cu...more
As the tropical island begins to work its magic on him, the young refugee befriends a local girl with some painful secrets of her own. Yet even in Cu...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
March 31st 2009
by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Read. This. Book. True, it won't be released for a few more weeks. But make note of it now to get to this one when you get the chance. Written by Margarita Engle--an acclaimed verse novelist--the book is the story of Daniel, a Jewish refugee, and the friends he makes in Cuba--Paloma and David. Daniel had no intentions of going to Cuba. When his parents tearfully sent him away--hoping and praying that at least their son may survive--this was right after the Night of Crystal or Broken Glass; they...more
Main characters: Daniel, Paloma, and David
Setting: Cuba
POV: alternating between characters
Summary:
Tropical secrets is an unusual book that covers the plight of Holocaust refugees that are in Cuba. The story is told from various perspective of several characters in the book in verse. Daniel, a young refugee, hopes to find his parents when he arrives at Cuba but is sad when he does not. He explains how people from his family were killed and how hatred has becoming all consuming as is seem almost a...more
Setting: Cuba
POV: alternating between characters
Summary:
Tropical secrets is an unusual book that covers the plight of Holocaust refugees that are in Cuba. The story is told from various perspective of several characters in the book in verse. Daniel, a young refugee, hopes to find his parents when he arrives at Cuba but is sad when he does not. He explains how people from his family were killed and how hatred has becoming all consuming as is seem almost a...more
I wasn't crazy about this book but it was ok.
What I liked about it:
1. I had no idea that Cuba had taken in holocaust refugees, so it was informational in that regard and I learned something new
What I didn't like about it:
1. The book is a novel in verse that alternates viewpoints between several characters. However, sometimes there are two poems in a row, or more, that are narrated by the same character. Since the poems don't stand alone, I wasn't sure of the point of that and feel that the story...more
What I liked about it:
1. I had no idea that Cuba had taken in holocaust refugees, so it was informational in that regard and I learned something new
What I didn't like about it:
1. The book is a novel in verse that alternates viewpoints between several characters. However, sometimes there are two poems in a row, or more, that are narrated by the same character. Since the poems don't stand alone, I wasn't sure of the point of that and feel that the story...more
"That is how I think of peace
and peace of mind—as timid birds
that we have to search for,
not bold ones that come
looking for us."
—Paloma, Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, P. 163
Margarita Engle straddles the concept of historical accuracy in storytelling and the poetic outcries of souls in great distress in all of her books, and nowhere does she accomplish it with more grace and ability than in Tropical Secrets.
The torturous events of Kristallnacht—the first night of major wid...more
and peace of mind—as timid birds
that we have to search for,
not bold ones that come
looking for us."
—Paloma, Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, P. 163
Margarita Engle straddles the concept of historical accuracy in storytelling and the poetic outcries of souls in great distress in all of her books, and nowhere does she accomplish it with more grace and ability than in Tropical Secrets.
The torturous events of Kristallnacht—the first night of major wid...more
This is a historical novel told in poetic form. I enjoyed it as much as I did her book “The Surrender Tree”. I didn’t know this part of history until I had read the book. The story is about Daniel, a Jew from Germany. His parents have taken all of their money and purchased a ticket for him to America. What none of them can know is that America has been denying access to the refuges. The ships are then sent on to Cuba. If Cuba denies them then they are sent back to Europe with the prospect of bei...more
Told in verse with four voices, Margarita Engle’s Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba (Henry Holt, 2009) is based on the exploitation of the Jews as they flee Nazi controlled Europe, and the problems of adapting to their new environment. Exorbitant fees were charged for passage on these ships and disembarkation was not guaranteed without additional fees. Cuba, the setting for this story, actually took in a higher proportion of Jews than the United States. thirteen year old Daniel has fl...more
Daniel left his family behind in Nazi Germany and sailed for New York for a new life. But his boat is rejected by the Americans and ends up in tropical Cuba. He still hopes to reunite with his parents one day, but doesn’t know how they will ever find him in this unexpected port. He is befriended by a young Cuban girl, Paloma, who is the daughter of the man who decides the fate of the refugees that arrive in their port. And there is also David, a Russian refugee who fled long ago to Cuba. These t...more
Haunting, lyrical verse novel tells the story of Daniel, a German Jewish boy who was sent overseas by his parents to escape the Holocaust. His boat is denied entry into U.S. harbors, and so he ends up stranded in Cuba. His story is interspersed with poems from the perspectives of war profiteers, other refugees, and Paloma, a Cuban girl who volunteers to aid refugees.
Engle does a marvelous job of depicting the characters' voices in such spare text. She also makes effective use of folkloric icons...more
Engle does a marvelous job of depicting the characters' voices in such spare text. She also makes effective use of folkloric icons...more
I was totally captivated by this story. Until reading it I had no idea what so ever that there had been Holocaust refugees in Cuba. This is a lovely little novel, told in verse, about the experience of trying to find a sense of place, home, comfort, and belonging in a land so radically different in every possible way from everything that you know.
Young Daniel who has been sent to New York by his German parents to escape persecution as a Jew with the plan that once they have saved enough money th...more
Young Daniel who has been sent to New York by his German parents to escape persecution as a Jew with the plan that once they have saved enough money th...more
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Dec 08, 2009
Kris
added it
Margarita Engle teaches children another fascinating time in Cuban history in Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. When Holocaust survivors left Europe they landed in different parts of the Americas. This story focuses on three main characters. Daniel is a young boy whose means of escape was a ship to Cuba. Paloma is a young Cuban girl who wants to help, even hiding people in the dovecote in her backyard. David is a Cuban Jew who is able to connect with Daniel through the Yiddish languag...more
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Tropical Secret
Margarita Engle
When Daniel arrives in Cuba, a Jewish refugee from Germany trying to escape the Nazis and who has nothing, it is only the kindness of Paloma and David that help him to cope with the loss of his parents. When Nazi spies are suspected of being in Cuba, white Christian refugees are taken away to prison camps and interrogated. Oddly, being an immigrant with a “J” for Jew on your passport is the only thing that protects you here in Cuba. It is the exact opposite of life...more
Margarita Engle
When Daniel arrives in Cuba, a Jewish refugee from Germany trying to escape the Nazis and who has nothing, it is only the kindness of Paloma and David that help him to cope with the loss of his parents. When Nazi spies are suspected of being in Cuba, white Christian refugees are taken away to prison camps and interrogated. Oddly, being an immigrant with a “J” for Jew on your passport is the only thing that protects you here in Cuba. It is the exact opposite of life...more
I honestly don't get why this book has received so much critical acclaim. The subject matter was very interesting, yes, (I didn't know Jewish refugees from the Holocaust were turned away from New York harbors and sent to Cuba) but the writing was not what I would call top-notch, especially for poetry. The voices of the different characters were not distinct. It didn't strike me as especially beautiful or moving. In fact, one of the first stanzas made me cringe:
"My parents are musicians--/poor p...more
"My parents are musicians--/poor p...more
Very intriguing, unique perspective of Holocaust, makes me want to do more research into what happened to refugees who were turned away from America and Canada. In verse form, so information is sparse, but there is a very short narrative at the end to give some background. Still, this one is best for giving readers a sense of the displacement that refugees experience, not for gaining facts and details about the Holocaust.
Favorite passage:
A few weeks ago,
if you had told Mark
that he would be the...more
Favorite passage:
A few weeks ago,
if you had told Mark
that he would be the...more
At the beginning of World War II, Daniel's family only has the money for one passage out of Germany and his parents decide he should take it. They promise to meet up with him in New York as soon as they can get out. When the ship is rejected by the United States and Canada, Daniel ends up in Cuba, befriending Paloma, a Cuban girl with secrets.
It's a very interesting topic for a book and WWII is a popular topic among middle-graders. I'm just not that into novels in verse - I can think of a selec...more
It's a very interesting topic for a book and WWII is a popular topic among middle-graders. I'm just not that into novels in verse - I can think of a selec...more
When 13 year-old Daniel arrives in Cuba as a Jewish refugee from Germany in 1939, he is not sure what he’ll discover on this unfamiliar, tropical island. Soon he discovers 12 year-old Cuban native, Paloma, and Jewish-Russian émigré, David, and forms a lasting friendship with both. Engle provides a unique perspective, and one that is not generally familiar in Holocaust studies, on the state of refugees to Cuba during the Second World War. Through the narratives of many characters, readers will di...more
Daniel and his parents (a Jewish family) wanted desperately to flee Nazi Germany, but could only afford passage for one person. His parents insisted that person be Daniel and soon he finds himself on a refugee boat that cannot find refuge anywhere. Daniel ends up in Cuba, befriending a catholic Cuban girl and an older Jewish man who has lived in Cuba for decades.
This novel in verse sheds new light on the story of the Holocaust and the reign of Nazi Germany. I had no idea that some Jews who escap...more
This novel in verse sheds new light on the story of the Holocaust and the reign of Nazi Germany. I had no idea that some Jews who escap...more
So far everything I've read by Margarita Engle has been lovely. This book didn't grab my gut in the same way that her Poet Slave of Cuba did, but I still found it to be pretty un-put-downable. I had no idea about the history of Holocaust refugees in Cuba. My 9 year old is reading it now as she is in a WWII historical fiction phase, (started with NUMBER THE STARS.) TROPICAL SECRETS is a unique and welcome addition to that cannon of MG WWII literature that gives young readers a sense and empathy...more
This is a very moving read, but most valuable for its different slant on the holocaust . Thirteen-year-old Daniel, a Krystalnacht survivor and the only one his family could afford to send out of Germany, ending up unexpectedly in a tropical, Spanish-speaking country where he begins to make a new life - and even help other German-Jewish refugees like himself. Through the first-person voices of Daniel, his friend Paloma, the Russian immigrant David, and Paloma's bureaucrat father El Gordo, the fac...more
Audience: This book is a bit more advanced, readers would most likely be 3rd-6th grade students. This book is also great for anyone studying immigration, the Holocaust, or the stuggles of refugees.
Appeal: One of the appeals about this book that isn't like many other books is the format. Each page in this book is set up to appear as a poem, but it is still just a regular story. The heading of each page also goes back and forth between the two main characters, and it is set up almost like a diary....more
Appeal: One of the appeals about this book that isn't like many other books is the format. Each page in this book is set up to appear as a poem, but it is still just a regular story. The heading of each page also goes back and forth between the two main characters, and it is set up almost like a diary....more
Interesting view of the Jewish experience in World War II, told in verse. Daniel, 13, is a jewish boy who arrives in Havana Cuba on a ship full of Jewish exiles from Europe that had been refused entry into the United States ports. Daniel meets Paloma, a 12 y.o. Cuban girl whose father is a corrupt customs official, and David, an old man who is a Russian Jewish immigrant who's lived there decades. The three alternate points of view, as Daniel gets used to Cuban life but misses his family. Based o...more
I listened to this on audiobook, but I got fairly quickly that it was a novel written in poetry.
If you're looking for a book about the Cuban experience during the Holocaust, I'm not sure this will satisfy you. It's got some good historically-related fiction, and the character development is pretty good, but it's not a book that will round out a collection of YA Holocaust books. However, I do recommend it to YA teachers - teens like poetry novels, in my experience, and this one have enough about...more
If you're looking for a book about the Cuban experience during the Holocaust, I'm not sure this will satisfy you. It's got some good historically-related fiction, and the character development is pretty good, but it's not a book that will round out a collection of YA Holocaust books. However, I do recommend it to YA teachers - teens like poetry novels, in my experience, and this one have enough about...more
Daniel is a young Jewish boy who fled Germany during the Nazi regime. The ship he was on has been turned away from the "golden land" also known as New York. He now finds himself in Cuba facing obstacles he never could have imagined for his young life while he dreams of seeing his parents again one day. Due to discussions between characters of the violence that took place in Nazi Germany this book would be best suited for children grades 5th through 8th. Children who are interested in learning ab...more
The story of Holocaust refugees ending up in Cuba is interesting and I would consider investigating it further, but I don't feel like this book really does a wonderful job with it. I think it just fell a bit flat and, as a personal note, I have trouble differentiating between Davids and Daniels in real life so having both names appear as main characters really threw me for a loop.
That being said, the fact that it is written as poems could make it a good book to put in the hands of a reluctant re...more
That being said, the fact that it is written as poems could make it a good book to put in the hands of a reluctant re...more
The Holocaust visits Cuba in this spare yet powerful novel in verse. Daniel a young Jewish boy, is put on a boat to escape certain death and is taken in by Cuba. Told in alternating chapters by Daniel and Paloma, there is an increasing anxiety that all the immigrants fleeing to Cuba will not be guaranteed entrance to the island. Also prevalent is the turn against the Jews once Pearl Harbor is bombed. Engle has done her research and educated me about the horrors of the Holocaust visiting far away...more
Daniel's parents can only afford one trip away from Nazi Germany to safety, and they send him. Rejected at the United States and Canada, Cuba is the last hope for the passengers of Daniel's ship. "El Gordo," a Cuban official, allows them to enter, but only after charging exorbitant fees. His daughter, Paloma, is secretly doing her best to help the refugees feel at home while her father profits off of them. David, an adult who fled from Russia several years ago, offers his wisdom as the two young...more
Another free verse novel like All The Broken Pieces, but this one doesn't deliver as much "meat" as I would have liked. It introduced me to what went on in Cuba during WWII with Jewish refugees (I had no idea that even happened--shows you how uninformed I am), but the storyline just seemed to skim the surface. It just left me wishing the book had gone deeper. If you want to read a book about a war refugee in free verse, I suggest All The Broken Pieces--different war, but it still gives great ins...more
I listened to this book and it was very interesting. It is in a prose style and told quite a fascinating story about refugees in Cuba. I had no idea that so many refugees from Europe settled in Cuba after fleeing the Nazi regime. The island accepted thousands of people. The story is about a Cuban girl and German boy, their friendship, and how they help others. There are Quakers who help with the resettlement and a greedy Cuban official who extorts money. Very interesting book.
format: verse novel (audio version)
age: grades 5-8
protagonist: Daniel
Since this is written in free verse, the audio version has different narrators for each character which is a nice change from the typical one narrator you get with most stories. However, I don't think this book would have been as effective to listen to without the different voices to help signify when the character changes. Overall, I liked listening to it and found it easy to follow with the different narrators.
age: grades 5-8
protagonist: Daniel
Since this is written in free verse, the audio version has different narrators for each character which is a nice change from the typical one narrator you get with most stories. However, I don't think this book would have been as effective to listen to without the different voices to help signify when the character changes. Overall, I liked listening to it and found it easy to follow with the different narrators.
This book is written as a poetic novel and Engle presents some wonderful visuals with very few words. The story of Daniel, a refugee from Germany, is the main voice but it includes the voices of a refugee from the Urkraine, a Cuban young girl, and her father. Its message of hope is presented well, especially against the backdrop of our Congress today.
It's a different telling of the Jewish story of WWII which makes it worthwhile.
It's a different telling of the Jewish story of WWII which makes it worthwhile.
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Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She lives with her husband in northern California.
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“If only the peace I feel right now
could be stored up and released later
when cruelty surrounds me
in the dark
during nightmares.”
—
10 people liked it
could be stored up and released later
when cruelty surrounds me
in the dark
during nightmares.”
“I feel the heaviness of nightmares
even though I am awake.
How weary I am, how sleepless
and hopeless—there is no escape
from the torment
of wishes.”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
even though I am awake.
How weary I am, how sleepless
and hopeless—there is no escape
from the torment
of wishes.”
