Newbery Honoree Margarita Engle (Dancing Hands; Your Heart, My Sky) uses her skills as a poet and storyteller to introduce young readers to the wonderful Gabriela Mistral in this lyrical middle-grade novel in verse, set in 1947.
Eleven-year-old Oriol's family moved from Cuba to California when her beloved grandmother needed special medical care. But, despite the family's efforts, Abuelita died. Now Oriol is stuck in Santa Barbara at a school that placed her in third grade instead of fifth and where she is regularly bullied. Luckily for Oriol, her parents are both veterinarians and she helps in their clinic, taking care of animals and doing tasks that she loves. When Mistral, a Chilean poet and diplomat, comes to Santa Barbara, Oriol forms a relationship with her. As la poeta teaches Oriol how to write poetry in English, Oriol's confidence grows. And so it is Oriol who speaks out about and comes up with a plan to save an elephant baby being held in isolation near the clinic.
Mistral was the first Latin American author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and did live in Santa Barbara between 1946 and 1948, but the rest of Singing with Elephants is Engle's creation. Oriol's growing courage, her ability to use her new language and her love for animals should inspire readers in many ways: to become writers, to translate their passions into action, to speak out on behalf of animals or people who are abused. Back matter includes biographical information about Mistral and elephants; a poem by Mistral in Spanish and English; and other resources. --Melinda Greenblatt, freelance book reviewer