Reviewer: Heather Kent
Title: Wings in the Wild
Author: Margarita Engle
Published: 2023
Genre: Young Adult Romance, Poetry, Realistic Fiction, Climate Control, Human Rights
Audience: Grades 9-12
Content Warnings: Human Rights
Book Cover Summary: This romantic contemporary novel-in-verse tells the love story of two teens fighting for climate action and human rightMargarita Engles.
Winged beings are meant to be free. And so are artists, but the Cuban government has criminalized any art that doesn’t meet their approval. Soleida and her parents protest this injustice with their secret sculpture garden of chained birds. Then a hurricane exposes the illegal art, and her parents are arrested.
Soleida escapes to Central America alone, joining the thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica while seeking asylum elsewhere. There she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose enigmatic music enchants birds and animals—and Soleida.
Together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba. Soon they discover that love isn’t about falling—it’s about soaring together to new heights. But wings can be fragile, and Soleida and Dariel come from different worlds. They are fighting for a better future—and the chance to be together.
Review: Wings in the Wild by Margarita Engle is a young adult novel written in verse that beautifully tells a story of love, resilience, and environmental activism. Set in Latin American countries, the story follows two young adults, Soleida and Dariel, who are drawn together by their shared passion for protecting endangered birds. Engle’s writing captures the beauty of the natural world and the intensity of first love, while also tackling serious themes like freedom of expression and the impact of environmental destruction. This novel could be used in Spanish classrooms as it includes many phrases and themes in the world language curriculum.
