★ 05/08/2017
Otheguy debuts with a bilingual story, written in gentle and measured verse, about activist José Martí, detailing his efforts to free Cuba from Spanish rule—and its people from slavery—by disseminating pamphlets and writing for newspapers. After being jailed and exiled to New York, Martí continued his campaign to liberate the Cuban people while finding solace in the Catskills: “the grass grew wild/ and seemed to whisper/ that Cuba still needed him.” Vidal (Little Bek Longtail Learns to Sleep) uses a subtle folk art style in her detailed gouache illustrations, creating people who resemble terra-cotta figurines. Excerpts from Martí’s Versos sencillos thoughtfully underscore this moving account of his crusade for justice. Ages 8–10. Author’s agent: Adriana Domínguez, Full Circle Literary. (July)
* "Otheguy and Vidal tell a timely story that will inspire many to fight for equality and sings songs for freedom." Booklist, starred review
* "Otheguy debuts with a bilingual story, written in gentle and measured verse, about activist José Martí... Excerpts from Martí's Versos sencillos thoughtfully underscore this moving account of his crusade for justice." Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "In bringing an important life back into the conversation during divided political times, this book spotlights a steadfast hero and brilliant writer still worth admiring today." Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "A sensitive and poignant tribute to one of Latin America's most important historical figures that will encourage readers of all ages to fight for freedom and peace." School Library Journal, starred review
* "Discover: A direct and approachable introduction to the life and works of Cuban poet and freedom fighter José Martí." Shelf Awareness, starred review
"Otheguy's verse is seamlessly combined with excerpts from Martí's own Versos sencillos. Vidal's gouache folk art-style illustrations are soft yet evocative; they bring to life the rich countryside of Cuba with its palmas reales as well as the lush autumn foliage of the Catskills. This is a gorgeous bilingual tribute to the life of Cuba's hero-poet." The Horn Book
Américas Award - Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs Best Books - Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year - School Library Journal CCBC Choices - Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Junior Library Guild Selection North American Academy of the Spanish Language Award - Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española Tejas Star Reading List - Texas Library Association (TLA)
★ 06/01/2017
Gr 2–5—The life of poet, writer, and freedom fighter José Martí (1853–95) comes alive in this lyrical, bilingual retelling of his everlasting impact on the people of his native Cuba. Growing up, Martí was an admirer of nature and fell in love with the beauty of the Cuban countryside. As he traveled the landscape, he observed the cruel enslavement of the Cuban people on sugar plantations during the period of Spanish rule. When he saw the injustice of slavery in his homeland, he knew he had to fight for Cuba's independence and the freedom of the island's people. Inspired by the U.S. Civil War, and President Abraham Lincoln, Martí called others to action and was jailed by the government for doing so. But not even imprisonment could silence him. Martí traveled extensively throughout the world, spreading his message of social justice, freedom, and peace. During his exile from Cuba, he found inspiration in the natural beauty of the Catskill Mountains in New York. Here he wrote Versos sencillos, a collection of poems that came to define the struggle for Cuban independence. Otheguy pens this biography in a series of stanzas that mimic Martí's poetry, weaving together his vision of hope for the Cuban people with rich illustrations that pay homage to the vivid hues of his native land. VERDICT A sensitive and poignant tribute to one of Latin America's most important historical figures that will encourage readers of all ages to fight for freedom and peace.—Natalie Braham, Denver Public Library
★ 2017-03-29
Weaving in work from poet and Cuban freedom fighter José Martí, Otheguy presents a sensitive portrayal of the revolutionary. Told in stanzas paired alongside Domínguez's Spanish translation, Martí's life story faces detailed, evocative full-page paintings, some painful (Martí witnessed the horrors of slavery), others celebratory. While the pale-skinned Cuban's life contained many contradictions and political subtleties, the book focuses on Martí's love of country and ties it in not only to his writing work, but to a more literal love of a homeland: his affinity for nature that continued even when he lived in the United States in exile. "In the Catskills, José splashed in the waterfalls, / hiked through the helecho, / the ferns that lined the paths, / and admired the thick bark of the oak trees," Otheguy writes. If the text sometimes feels workmanlike, it's only because the included bits of Martí's poetry are so strong and searing. "I've seen the wounded eagle / Fly to the clear blue sky, / And I've seen the snake lie dying / From its own poison, alone in its lair." While it doesn't paint the most detailed picture of who Martí was as a person, it conveys enough of his fervent belief in Cuba's independence and where those beliefs took him in life to make up for that. In bringing an important life back into the conversation during divided political times, this book spotlights a steadfast hero and brilliant writer still worth admiring today. (Picture book/biography. 7-12)