Through verse, Margarita Engle guides the reader through the life of Juan Francisco Manzano in THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA: A BIOGRAPHY OF JUAN FRANCISCO MANZANO. This winner exemplifies a Latino writer sharing the experiences of a Latino cultural experience which is the expectation of the Pura Belpre award.
Juan Francisco is a slave born in Cuba to a Maria del Pilar Manzano (a personal handmaid to Dona Beatriz de Justiz, La Marquesa) and Toribio de Castro ( a slave tailor). The Marquesa is mesmerized by Juan's ability to memorize everything he hears from poems to operas from a very early age. She calls him "the child of her old age." She takes him everywhere to "perform" for friends and dignitaries. Juan feels he is her "poodle" doing as he is told. At Juan's baptism, the Marquesa grants his parents (after paying the sum of three hundred pesos each) and any future children freedom. To Juan she grants freedom upon her death.
But this doesn't occur for upon her death, Juan's evil and cruel godmother takes him to her home. La Marquesa de Prado Ameno abuses and tortures Juan for the things he was praised for by his former owner. Juan is wants to learn to read and write (even though he is creating his own written language and alphabet) which when observed causes him more torture. The Maquesa's son, Don Nicolas, feels sorry for him and tries to get him away from his mother. For a short time he is treated as a human being by Don Nicolas and learns to read and write. But the Marquesa manages to get Juan back, and this insane woman fluctuates between torture and her form of kindness. Juan's mother, even though she knows Juan is supposed to be free, pays for his freedom again. The Marquesa will not grant it. To avert his owner's wrath, Juan follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a slave tailor and creates beautiful clothes. When Juan's mother dies and he is not allowed to light candles in her honor at the church, Juan becomes silent. Eventually he starts writing his own verses that people come to hear and ask for. The Marquesa puts him through the worst torture yet, and he almost dies except for hearing the calls of hundreds for him to carry on. He escapes! At the end of the book, the author shares some of Juan's verses of hope and about his life.
What an extraordinary book!! This book of verse is an opportunity to share a different form of storytelling, but this being the true story of Juan's life. It would be good to share with the teachers of social studies since they speak of the sugar cane plantations, slavery, and the triangle trade. This biography would give a different perception to that period in time.
Juan Francisco is a slave born in Cuba to a Maria del Pilar Manzano (a personal handmaid to Dona Beatriz de Justiz, La Marquesa) and Toribio de Castro ( a slave tailor). The Marquesa is mesmerized by Juan's ability to memorize everything he hears from poems to operas from a very early age. She calls him "the child of her old age." She takes him everywhere to "perform" for friends and dignitaries. Juan feels he is her "poodle" doing as he is told. At Juan's baptism, the Marquesa grants his parents (after paying the sum of three hundred pesos each) and any future children freedom. To Juan she grants freedom upon her death.
But this doesn't occur for upon her death, Juan's evil and cruel godmother takes him to her home. La Marquesa de Prado Ameno abuses and tortures Juan for the things he was praised for by his former owner. Juan is wants to learn to read and write (even though he is creating his own written language and alphabet) which when observed causes him more torture. The Maquesa's son, Don Nicolas, feels sorry for him and tries to get him away from his mother. For a short time he is treated as a human being by Don Nicolas and learns to read and write. But the Marquesa manages to get Juan back, and this insane woman fluctuates between torture and her form of kindness. Juan's mother, even though she knows Juan is supposed to be free, pays for his freedom again. The Marquesa will not grant it. To avert his owner's wrath, Juan follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a slave tailor and creates beautiful clothes. When Juan's mother dies and he is not allowed to light candles in her honor at the church, Juan becomes silent. Eventually he starts writing his own verses that people come to hear and ask for. The Marquesa puts him through the worst torture yet, and he almost dies except for hearing the calls of hundreds for him to carry on. He escapes! At the end of the book, the author shares some of Juan's verses of hope and about his life.
What an extraordinary book!! This book of verse is an opportunity to share a different form of storytelling, but this being the true story of Juan's life. It would be good to share with the teachers of social studies since they speak of the sugar cane plantations, slavery, and the triangle trade. This biography would give a different perception to that period in time.
