Margarita Engle is the Cuban American

Cuban American

A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...

 winner of the first Newbery Honor ever awarded to a Latino.

Biography

She was a botanist and professor at California State Polytechnic University.

Her young adult novels in verse include:

• The Surrender Tree, recipient of the first Newbery Honor
  Newbery Medal
  The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
  
   awarded to a Latino, as well as the Pura Belpré Medal, Américas Award, and Jane Addams Award.
• The Poet Slave of Cuba received the Pura Belpré Medal, Américas Award, and an International Reading Association Award.
• Tropical Secrets received the Sydney Taylor Award
  Sydney Taylor Book Award
  The Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature. Medals are awarded annually for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. The award was established in 1968 by the Association of Jewish Libraries. It is named in memory of Sydney Taylor,...
  
   and Paterson Prize.
• The Firefly Letters is a Pura Belpré Honor Book, and a finalist for the Jane Addams Award and California Book Award.

Engle’s most recent book is Hurricane Dancers, the First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck.

She lives in central California

Central California

Central California, sometimes referenced as Mid-State, is an area of California south of the San Francisco Bay Area and north of Southern California...

, where she enjoys helping her husband with his volunteer work for wilderness search and rescue dog training programs.

Awards

THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA, A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano (Henry Holt & Co., 2006)

• Pura Belpré Medal
• Américas Award
• International Reading Association Children’s Book Award
• International Reading Association Teachers’ Choice
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts
• Bank Street College of Education Best Books of the Year
• New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age
• Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
• Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice
• Booklist Editor’s Choice
• Arizona Grand Canyon Young Readers Master List
• Junior Library Guild Selection

THE SURRENDER TREE, Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom (Henry Holt & Co., 2008)

• Newbery Honor
• Pura Belpré Award
• Américas Award
• Jane Addams Award
• Claudia Lewis Poetry Award
• Lee Bennett Hopkins Honor
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• ALA Notable Book
• NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Book
• Amelia Bloomer Book
• Booklist Editors Choice
• Kansas State Reading Circle
• Michigan Great Lakes Great Books Award Master List
• Junior Library Guild Selection

TROPICAL SECRETS, Holocaust Refugees in Cuba (Henry Holt & Co., 2009)

• Sydney Taylor Award
• Paterson Prize
• Américas Award Commendation
• New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults Nominee
• California Teachers Association Recommended Book

THE FIREFLY LETTERS, A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba (Henry Holt & Co., 2010)

• Pura Belpré Honor
• Jane Addams Award Finalist
• California Book Award Finalist
• International Reading Association Notable Book for a Global Society
• NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Book
• Amelia Bloomer Book
• TAYSHAS Choice
• Junior Library Guild Selection

SUMMER BIRDS, The Butterflies of Maria Merian (Henry Holt & Co., 2010, picture book)

• Kirkus Best Books for Children
• NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Book
• Amelia Bloomer Book

Works

• "Archetype"; "Memory"; "Variations on a Theme", Terrain.org
• Singing to Cuba, Arte Publico Press, 1993, ISBN 9781558850705
• Skywriting, Bantam Books, 1995, ISBN 9780553099874
• The Poet Slave of Cuba, a Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano (Henry Holt & Co., April, 2006) ISBN 9780805077063
• The Surrender Tree (Holt, 2008) ISBN 9780805086744
• Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, Macmillan, 2009, ISBN 9780805089363
• The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba, Henry Holt & Co., 2010, ISBN 9780805090826
• Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian, Henry Holt & Co., 2010, ISBN 9780805089370
• Hurricane Dancers The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck, Henry Holt & Co., 2011, ISBN 9780805092400

External links

• Margarita Engle's Official Website,
• "Q & A with Margarita Engle", Publishers Weekly, Aida Bardales, 4/16/2009
• "Margarita Engle's Historic Newbery Honor", School Library Journal, Debra Lau Whelan, 3/4/2009
• "Guanabee Interviews Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor-Winning Author Of The Surrender Tree", Guanabee, Alejandra Alvarez, 2/23/2009
• "Yuyi Morales, Margarita Engle win Pura Belpré Awards", American Library Association, 1/26/2009