Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

Engle, M. (2015). Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Reader.

Margarita Engle's memoir about her childhood written in poetic form tells about her two families: one in Cuba and one in the United States. In her memoir, she discusses how she is two people, her Cuba self and American self.   Her mother is from Cuba and they would spend the summers in Cuba, enjoying family, freedom, and the rich, vibrant island life.  She spends time in her grandmother's garden, visiting the family farm, and learning to ride horses with her cousins. She feels like her heart is in Cuba, where she eats limes from her great-grandmother's  garden and sucks on sugarcane from her family's farm.  Her American self is a shy, book-loving girl that makes good grades, is lonely, and teased by classmates.  Then the Bay of Pigs invasion happens, and her two world hate one another. Her teachers discuss Cuba negatively as well. Her family is unable to visit Cuba and their family because of the travel band.  Her family is visited by the FBI and questioned.  Her mother is not allowed to travel outside of the US because of her passport. The family now spends their summer traveling in the United States.  Soon, they can start to receive mail from her grandma in Cuba.  Then one summer, her father wants to go to Europe to study art.  Their mother is granted special permission from the countries.  But, they are still unable to visit Cuba.  Engle hopes for a future where Cuba and the United States can be friendly once again and she can visit her magical island and family again.

Engle's memoir tells of her own personal love of Cuba and her family that lives there.  Her feelings about the United States and the Cuba's relationship shows her heartbreak that her two worlds can't get along.  The memoir is scattered with history of the Cold War between the two counties.  At the end of the story, she includes a timeline of the Cold War and then includes her author's notes.  In her notes, she tells of how later she finally gets to once again visit her family in Cuba.  YA readers can relate to Engle's American childhood of being teased and lonely for being different and smart.  Readers can also relate to spending summers with family and cousins. 

This book can be used in history class as a companion book to help teach the relationship between Cuba and the United States, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missal Crisis.  It includes facts, but also how history effected the families involved.  

 Enchanted Air was a 2016 Finalist of the Excellence in Nonfiction for YA.  It also received a Pura Belpre Award.