Hurricane Dancers

Genre: Poetry

Engle, Margarita. Hurricane dancers: the first Caribbean pirate shipwreck. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2011.  ISBN 978-0-8050-9240-0

This novel in verse is the story of Quebrado, a young slave on a pirate ship.  When a hurricane wrecks the ship, he makes it to land and befriends some villagers.  When the pirate captain and the conquistador wash up on shore, he must decide the fate of them.

Hurricane Dancers is an enchanting tale.  The way each poem is written helps to capture a feeling or an image.  Whenever Quebrado is telling the story, you can feel the pain he feels in his words.  He feels alone and scared.  You can picture everything that is happening in the story through the way the words are written.  Here Quebrado talks of the hurricane attacking the ship.

The ship groans,

wind shrieks,

and I feel the storm

breathing

all around me

like an enormous

creature

in a nightmare

where beasts

growl

and chase….

On a ship

there is no place

to run away.

His words paint a picture of what is happening to him.  You feel is fear of the storm.  Even Quebrado’s name which means “broken” brings another element to his character.  The words throughout the book create the images of what is happening to everyone.  There are no illustrations.  When Caucubú, the chieftan’s daughter, speaks, she tells of her love for the fisherman Naridó.  Her words describe her feelings of love for this man.  She wants to marry for love and not a stranger her father wants her to marry.  This book is wrought with emotion through the tale of Quebrado and his interactions with Naridó, Caucubú, and the other villagers, as well as the pirate captain and the conquistador. 

The words are very important in the way they are laid out.  As you read each line, images form to help visualize the situation that Quebrado is in.  Metaphors and adjectives help to bring the vision to life. 

The enormous cavern glitters

with jagged crystals

and smooth ones.

This line helps you visualize the place where Quebrado is.  Alonso de Ojeda, the conquistador, says the following after having washed up on shore, surviving the hurricane.

So I wait for an end

to the broken boy’s

confusing speech

in a language that sounds

like the familiar whispers

of hateful phantoms.

The metaphor in this particular line brings scary thoughts to the forefront.  Engle utilizes different types of language for each character to make them unique.  No pictures or illustrations are needed to visualize the story.

This book has received the ALA Best Books for Young Adults nominee award.  She has also received much praise for this work.

“Unique and inventive, this is highly readable historical fiction that provides plenty of fodder for discussion.”--School Library Journal
“Like intersecting rip tides, several first-person narratives converge in this verse novel of the sixteenth century.”--Horn Book Magazine
“…the subject matter is an excellent introduction to the age of exploration and its consequences, showing slavery sinking its insidious roots in the Americas and the price paid by those who were there first.”--Publishers Weekly
“Taken individually the stories are slight, but they work together elegantly; the notes and back matter make this a great choice for classroom use.”--Kirkus Reviews

This book would be a great source for introducing poetry into social studies.  Quebrado’s slavery is an issue that could be discussed.  I think students would enjoy a story with a pirate ship and a hurricane.  Quebrado’s heritage and the fact that he is bilingual can also be discussed.  Talavera and Ojeda abuse this skill of Quebrado’s in the story. 

Newbery Honor-Winning Author Margarita Engle has these other titles of novels in verse that students can enjoy.

The Surrender Tree                  ISBN: 978-0805086744

The Poet Slave of Cuba            ISBN: 0805077065

Tropical Secrets                       ISBN: 978-0805089363

The Firefly Letters                    ISBN: 978-0805090826