Wings in the Wild -- Margarita Engle, Hardcover

This gorgeously romantic contemporary novel-in-verse from award-winning author Margarita Engle tells the inspiring love story of two teens fighting for climate action and human rights.

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.

Author: Margarita Engle
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 04/18/2023
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781665926362
Age Range: 13-17

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/06/2023
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2023
Booklist 04/01/2023 pg. 67

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.