Soaring Earth

Starred review from January 15, 2019
Young People's Poet Laureate Engle (A Dog Named Haku, 2018, etc.) explores her tumultuous teenage and early adult years during the equally turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s.This companion memoir to her award-winning Enchanted Air (2015) is written mostly in free verse with a spot of haiku and tanka. This is a lonely dreamer's tale of a wayward yet resourceful young woman who zigzags to self-discovery amid the Vietnam War, Delano grape strike, moon landing, and other key historical events. Dreaming of travel to far-off lands but without the financial resources to do so, she embarks on a formal and informal educational journey that takes her from Los Angeles to Berkeley, Haight-Ashbury, New York City, and back west again. With Spanish interspersed throughout, Engle speaks truthfully about the judgment she has faced from those who idealized Castro's Cuba and the struggle to keep her Spanish alive after being cut off from her beloved mother's homeland due to the Cold War. Employing variations in line breaks, word layout, and font size effectively, Engle's pithy verses together read as a cohesive narrative that exudes honesty and bravery. While younger readers may not recognize some of the cultural references, themes of dating, drugs, and difficulty in college will resonate widely. Finding one's path is not a linear process; thankfully Engle has the courage to offer herself as an example.Hopeful, necessary, and true. (author's note) (Poetry/memoir. 13-adult)

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Starred review from March 1, 2019

Gr 7 Up-In this stirring companion to her acclaimed memoir Enchanted Air, the Young People's Poet Laureate recounts the tumultuous late 60s and early 70s-a perfect parallel to her turbulent high school and college years. Using mostly free verse with smatterings of tanka and haiku, 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. The peace-loving young woman often found herself at odds with her parents, boyfriends, fellow students, and institutions, but she never lost touch with her roots. No matter how much time passed, at her core, Cuba and her family are knit into the fabric of her identity. The author's evocative language, vivid imagery, and authentic portrayal will engage teens. Her bumpy and circuitous road filled with failures, homelessness, and eventual resolution and academic success will encourage young adults on their own paths. VERDICT An unforgettable peek into an important and relevant time period brought into perspective by a masterly poet. A must-have for every collection.-Shelley M. Diaz, BookOps: The New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Libraryl

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February 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Engle chronicles her high school, college, and post-college years?turbulent times for her, for the country, and for the world. She dreams of traveling to India, a place she imagines to be as enchanted as Cuba, where she can no longer visit due to the Cold War crisis. The poems in this memoir are terse, filled with the bleak imaginings of a teenager seeking emotional resonance. Despite the temporal difference, 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 (2015) packs a historical wallop with references to Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam War, the Cold War, Second Wave Feminism, Watergate, Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia, and more. Engle lets all of this consume her, and she drifts for a while, living precariously. The memoir ends on a positive note, as she finds her place with nature, poetry, and a life partner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)