Forest World

From award-winning author Margarita Engle comes a lively middle grade novel in verse that tells the story of a Cuban-American boy who visits his family's village in Cuba for the first time--and meets a sister he didn't know he had.

Edver isn't happy about being shipped off to Cuba to visit the father he barely knows. The island is a place that no one in Miami ever mentions without a sigh, but travel laws have suddenly changed, and now it's a lot easier for divided families to be reunited. Technology in Cuba hasn't caught up with the times, though, and Edver is expecting a long, boring summer.

He was NOT expecting to meet a sister he didn't know he had. Luza is a year older and excited to see her little brother, until she realizes what a spoiled American he is. Looking for something--anything--they might have in common, the siblings sneak onto the Internet, despite it being forbidden in Cuba, and make up a fake butterfly. Maybe now their cryptozoologist mother will come to visit. But their message is intercepted by a dangerous poacher, and suddenly much more than their family is at stake. Edver and Luza have to find a way to overcome their differences to save the Cuban jungle that they both have grown to love.

Author: Margarita Engle
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 08/29/2017
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781481490573
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.9
Point Value: 3
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 196240 / Forest World


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/12/2017
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2017
Booklist 07/01/2017 pg. 57
School Library Journal 08/01/2017
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2017
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2017 pg. 92
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2018 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
Margarita Engle is the Cuban American author of many books including the verse novels Rima's Rebellion; Your Heart, My Sky; With a Star in My Hand; The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor winner; and The Lightning Dreamer. Her verse memoirs include Soaring Earth and Enchanted Air, which received the Pura Belpré Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor, and was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, among others. Her picture books include Drum Dream Girl; Dancing Hands; and The Flying Girl. Visit her at MargaritaEngle.com.