Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba

By Margarita Engle

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 Cuba, the Nazi darkness is never far away . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2009
• ISBN: 9781429919814

Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle is the Cuban American author of many books including the verse novels Rima’s Rebellion; Your Heart, My Sky; With a Star in My Hand; The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor winner; and The Lightning Dreamer. Her verse memoirs include Soaring Earth and Enchanted Air, which received the Pura Belpré Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor, and was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, among others. Her picture books include Drum Dream Girl, Dancing Hands, and The Flying Girl. Visit her at MargaritaEngle.com.

Book preview

�}�2abook_preview_excerpt.htmluUA��6�J?`#������q�1ֳ9$r�ZCb(R!����K�痤�#Q9����ե�����N��7����+<>�������iy�>q�4G��~��?�pг�)����L���qN�]=�g�D�m��4q��uN�5`2� Ɉk��D�߭��"w2��D\�8N�V�Q;� h�� S=�c��`}_b�gr��Ѷ�M�Z�c��aY�~��(��A���m7:��˻�tiHÈ.�B�C�J�y7Jgj9^��V��w���1\��N�>d�Y��">�l��P��M��5o�Ŕ� �%���~I��q�q��D��~L�����/�)�" '�,���6�b���L��>x�]":\�3e�\%��9�Yb�~>l����L6긷�J��Ba��E����ҕ����<���i��*��z�vcBE�T}e��Ŵ:'�hnp�'q/�*���t���H���6�m/�B0v����I-}����x���n�S �o��1�Eh ��7�EU�,�Bd�ᒶº@�ܚ��c���4WMS6 ��
��J����U���)j hw.�O2�!^krE�pO��E�w�4�]�w�sVZ�k��E�*P٫�aN㙩 h]5��;����ۡ��|J����6��X�~�gc�:�Ms� ~���ٍ�dި/�CM�bm��G%���f�Spg��7K*nR:*@ៃvqG"R���9ޢ;�s�����j����͛�/w��������:�g�Q2I��݉Z7��2��tg
\��Ƥ$&�_ٔ�l��ေؔ�J�6к>*�PΪ*�G|�R ��e5�~=+F�8?��5�(��^|�'�����y�6����
�Q�v

Reviews for Tropical Secrets

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The nose knows.

[pmlyayakkers · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After their ship was not allowed to dock in the United States or Canada, boatloads of Jewish refugees from Europe headed for the small island of Cuba. Some were allowed to disembark; others were not. In free verse, this tells the story of a teenage boy who left his family behind in Germany and learned to live in Cuba.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Narrated by four readers. Here's a book about an aspect of WWII history I hadn't heard about: Jewish refugees in Cuba. During the war Cuba took in 60,000 refugees, more than any other Latin American country and about as much as the United States. This poetry novel is told through four perspectives, the main one being Daniel, a 12-year-old boy sent off on the boat because his parents could only afford one passage. David is an older Ukraine Jew who sells ice cream and has lived in Cuba for decades. Young Paloma secretly assists the Quakers with the refugees, unbeknownst to her father, El Gordo, who profits from selling entry visas to the Jews. An intriguing story for what it means to be to be free.

[gr8ind8n · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Music is the only partof Cuba's heated airthat feels like somethingI can breathe"Lovely book about an aspect of the Holocaust of which I was unaware. Even though this is poetry, I think that even reluctant readers would do good as there are compelling reasons to finish this book and find out what happens to the different characters.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After their ship was not allowed to dock in the United States or Canada, boatloads of Jewish refugees from Europe headed for the small island of Cuba. Some were allowed to disembark; others were not. In free verse, this tells the story of a teenage boy who left his family behind in Germany and learned to live in Cuba.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got this book from the library but have to get a real paper copy for myself because I need to pass this one around. This has to be one my top 5 reads for the year. It's a book written in verse about a 13 year old Jewish boy whose parents manage to get him out of Germany in 1939 on a refugee ship bound for America. The ship was refused entry into both the US and Canada but, after paying bribes, refugees were allowed into Cuba. Only such simple, beautiful poetry could express so clearly what Daniel has left behind in Germany. Speaking of kristallnacht:"How can hatred havesuch a beautiful name?Crystal should be clear,but on that dark nightthe glass of broken windowsdid not glitter."Adjusting to a new land:"I am not accustomed to buildingswith trees and flowers at the centerand a view of open skyright in the middle of the housewhere one would expect to finda stone fireplaceand sturdy brick walls....here I amin the sweaty tropics, struggling to breathe humid air that feels as thick as the steamfrom a pot of my mother'sfragrant tea."He meets a young girl named Paloma who loves birds and lives with her enterprising father El Gordo, named not for his girth but for the girth of his wallet. He is one deciding how much money in bribes will be necessary to allow refugees to land instead of being sent back to death in Europe. She secretly gives Daniel cool clothing meant for her tropical island rather than the warm German clothing he came with:"and I give him one of my father'smany fine Panama hats,an expensive jipijapa hat,cool and comfortablelike a splendid circle of shadefrom a portable tree."They meet David, an older refugee from Russia who talks about a time when Carnival was "cancelled when a Cuban official decidedthe dances were too African,too tribal...but outlawing dance in Cubais like trying to hide the sun with one finger."Paloma describes the peace doves she is allowed to keep:"the peace doves are far too trustingto survive in the wildwhere hungry catspursue them."There's lots of poetry about making music because Daniel comes from a musical family and loves making music himself with anything he has at hand from instruments made out of pots and pans or turtle shells to a donated guitar. He participates in Carnival with Paloma, but feels guilty when he finds it is a religious holiday. He is constantly torn between his young man's urge to celebrate life and his awareness of the evils of some humans and the yearning for peace and to be reunited with his family.This is a book you can easily read in an hour but will want to draw out as long as possible

[skstiles612 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 being sent to a concentration camp. Daniel is one of the lucky ones allowed to disembark in Cuba. He makes friends with Paloma. She discovers her fathers is an evil and crooked Cuban official. She lives in her dovecote with her birds to stay away from him. Daniel meets people along the way who help him learn to live not just survive. He also helps hide people during this time. This is a very emotional book. You feel for Daniel’s parents and realize the depth of their love for him. This is a book that will definitely go on my shelves for my students. I think this should be required reading in History classes.

[abbylibrarian_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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 select few that I have enjoyed. I think I would have enjoyed this novel more if it had been a prose story. It was hard for me to identify with the characters when we just see them in the small snippets of poems. I wouldn't hesitate to hand this to fans of novels in verse, though, and there are plenty of them out there.

[smclawler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Told in verse with four voices, Margarita Engle’s Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba (Henry Holt, 2009) is based on the exploitation encountered by 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. Daniel has fled Europe alone, and after his vessel was denied entry to the US, the ship finally docked in Cuba. He meets Paloma, the daughter of El Gordo, a Cuban whose wealth is based on the fees collected from Jews who wish to disembark. Paloma secretly works to help ease the transition of the refugees. All is new-the climate, the plants, the animals, the clothes, the language, and the food. Together Paloma and Daniel befriend David, a former refugee from Russia, who has been in Cuba for many years. This fictional work is a nice companion to Engle’s The Surrender Tree (Henry Holt, 2008), the Newbery honor winner that chronicles Cuba’s wars of independence from Spain.