With a Star in My Hand

November 15, 2019
Multiaward-winning author Engle presents the childhood and youth of famed Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío. Engle tirelessly brings forth yet another influential Latin American whose life is little known to children in the United States. Based on Darío's autobiography, the free-verse novel is told in the voice of the poet as imagined by Engle. Readers learn of the mother who abandoned him at a young age under a palm tree; of the great-uncle who gave him a home; and of learning "the essential skill of storytelling" from this same great-uncle, "who tells tall tales / in a booming, larger-than-life / story voice." Darío started writing poetry as a child and was soon known as "el niño poeta" (the poet boy). Impulsive and smart, Darío's youth was both marked by events out of his control and controlled by his emotions. At the age of 19 he left Nicaragua for Chile, and--aside from one last poem briefly summarizing the rest of his life--it is here the novel ends. Unfortunately, the book focuses more on the emotional life that carried him forward than on the events surrounding him, leaving readers with the need to go elsewhere for a more complete picture. Beautiful verse but insufficient depth. (author's note, references) (Historical verse fiction. 12-15)

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December 23, 2019
The latest biography in verse from Newbery Honoree Engle (Dreams from Many Rivers) adapts the life of beloved Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío (1867–1916). First-person poems describe childhood abandonment by his mother, his years as a child-prodigy poet, and his adulthood as a hard-drinking globetrotter. Engle documents Darío’s shift from traditional rhymed forms to “just letting verses flow, finding their way/ into musical rhythms that dance on natural air,” at times imitating these structures. In her own free verse, Engle distills a fascinating life and creates a portrait of a country where poetry, valued by many, could be a young person’s ticket out of hardship. Darío navigates heartache and ponders national and ethnic identity, but Engle leaves out necessary context that would allow the subjects to come fully alive. Meaningful lines occasionally sing but sometimes feel repetitious. Nevertheless, in introducing readers to Darío, Engle creates a jumping-off point for poetic exploration. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)■

January 31, 2020

Gr 7 Up-In the capable hands of Engle, this novel in verse about Rubén Darío is utterly moving. Born in the late 1860s, Darío created a literary movement known as Modernismo while rambunctiously coming of age. Engle shares a trove of discoveries about a boy from Nicaragua with a fractured family who became the celebrated "Poet Boy" traveling the world. He overcame hardship and pushed the boundaries of artistry, with his most renowned poem about a fairytale scribbled to a young fan. Engle's author's note suggests the majority of the book is biographically accurate based on Darío's own comprehensive writing. With a bombshell discovery about both of his parents, he turned to poetry as a mouthpiece for his frustration. Similarly, Darío's views on the world and political turmoil were funneled through his powerful writing. Engle takes this beauty and creates a captivating tribute in her own style, with emotional poem titles and a controlled unraveling of the details of a life lived to the limit. This type of storytelling celebrates the creative talent of Latinx people that has been hidden by history. Engle's form and research is something to be heralded, as is Darío's life and work. VERDICT A top purchase for public and school libraries alike; a stellar example of verse and historical fiction.-Alicia Abdul, Albany High School, NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2020
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* Engle's novel in verse tells the life story of Rub�n Dar�o, the famed Ni�o Poeta (Boy Poet) of Nicaragua. Beginning with his sad and lonely childhood, Engle tells of Dar�o's status as an orphan?abandoned by his mother, with no father to speak of. Motivated by anger and emptiness, he poured himself into writing, and the book tells his intriguing rags-to-riches story, written from a believable child perspective. Engle explores Dar�o's relationship with words and the effects of abandonment, trauma, grief, and loss on his work. The cyclical nature of events described, as well as the seasons' change and the rollercoaster of emotions?all based firmly in research?reflect how the poet's past affected his identity and career. Engle also pays close attention to Dar�o's mestizo identity and the importance of utilizing Spanish language, and there is a wonderful section on linework and rhyming patterns and structures, an educational element for young poets trying their hands at redondillas, octavillas, espinelas, and seguidillas. Along his life's journey, Dar�o encountered violence, alcoholism, terrible family secrets, devastating natural disasters, and racism?but, as Engle writes, he was a hunter of daydreams, only content to share his explosive verse hurricanes. Dar�o would go on to found the movement of Modernismo, and Engle details more historical information in the back matter. Exceptional.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)