Mike’s math learning disability is matched by his widower father's lack of social competence the Giant Genius can’t even reliably remember his son’s name. He’ll never be his dad's kind of engineer, but he learns he’s great at human engineering. Sent to stay with octogenarian relatives for the summer, 14-year-old Mike ends up coordinating a community drive to raise $40,000 for the adoption of a Romanian orphan.
Furthermore, while Mateo and Anita-and even many of the flora and fauna characters-are represented on the cover, Henry, a prominent character and the only black given a voice, does not make an appearance-a regrettable decision.Įngle’s new offering contains moments of true poetic beauty, but these choices detract from an otherwise lovely, enlightening book. Given this breadth, Engle’s choice to center her story on a nonblack protagonist is saddening, as the majority of the workers on the Panama Canal were black islanders. The Newbery Honoree and Pura Belpré winner’s verse is characteristically elegant, and her inclusion of nonhuman voices brings home the environmental impact of the monumental project. However, through his relationships with Anita, an “herb girl,” Henry, a black Jamaican worker, and Augusto, a Puerto Rican geologist, Mateo is able to find a place in his new land.
Mateo, a 14-year-old Cuban lured by promises of wealth, journeys to Panama only to discover the recruiters’ lies and a life of harsh labor. A poetic exploration of the construction of the Panama Canal.įrom the animal inhabitants of the Panamanian jungle, disturbed and displaced by the construction, and the trees felled to the human workers, Engle unites disparate voices into a cohesive narrative in poems chronicling the creation of the Panama Canal.
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