Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems

A flawed but necessary history of a culture whose voices demand to be heard.

This urgent historical survey by Engle (Dancing Hands) is ambitious in its scope: to tell the story of the lands now known as the United States through a combination of Hispanic voices and fictionalized composites. Starting with the Native Taíno people of Borikén--present-day Puerto Rico--in 1491 and concluding with anti-gun activist Emma González in 2018 Florida, the collection, told in verse, is divided into six parts that track the ebb and flow of borders and their impact on the colonized and occasionally the conquistador. Unfortunately, a lack of contextualizing details leaves many of the poems without clear historical anchors, even as they lean on expository lines ("My wife is the granddaughter of Hernán Cortés, / who conquered the Aztec emperor Moctezuma") that outnumber resonant moments. Hernandez's muralistic illustrations--peopled landscapes, representative maps--provide some emotional resonance. The work is stronger as one of curation, lifting unsung stories and centering Latinx perspectives--for example, the deportation of thousands of American citizens during the Great Depression. Engle makes a case for the necessity of bearing witness to both suffering and survival, and young readers might use her text as a jumping-off point for further reading--and for documenting their own stories. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 5-7--Engle addresses gaps in U.S. history for Latinxs, particularly topics that some may prefer omitted from cultural memory and the school curriculum. She does so through her signature free verse poetry format, with the overarching narrative told from multiple fictional and historical, first-person perspectives. Starting in an idyllic pre-Columbian Borikén (now the territory of Puerto Rico), the title spans more than five centuries, with the remaining five parts of the work set in the United States. Some of these sections receive more attention than others, but Gutierrez Hernandez's illustrated U.S. maps coupled with Engle's brief introductions serve as helpful organizers, situating the subsequent poetic content geographically, historically, and topically. Although the author lays out the book's parameters, limitations, and questions it raises, the spaces of unstated details and time periods between poems require readers to have strong background knowledge or adult scaffolding for full comprehension. Resources referenced in the acknowledgments validate the vigorous research that went into the creation of this work--but unfortunately, do not provide middle and high school students with age-appropriate sources to answer their own questions after reading. VERDICT This title may be helpful to raise student interest and engagement in related social studies lessons, or as a mentor text for instruction in writing historical fiction or biographical free verse poems, especially given the paucity of coverage Latinx history receives in the school curriculum.--Ruth Quiroa, National Louis University, Lisle, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Ambitiously covering more than 500 years of history, Engle brings an imaginative and personal voice to an impressive variety of perspectives . . . the poems tell of resistance to colonialism, of the courage and anguish of indigenous lives that were changed forever by the arrival of the Spanish, of the incessant greed, and of resilience. —Booklist on Dreams from Many Rivers

lifting unsung stories and centering Latinx perspectives . . . Engle makes a case for the necessity of bearing witness to both suffering and survival —Publishers Weekly on Dreams from Many Rivers

Engle addresses gaps in U.S. history for Latinxs, particularly topics that some may prefer omitted from cultural memory and the school curriculum. —School Library Journal on Dreams from Many Rivers