The Surrender Tree

The Surrender Tree is a lyrical, Newbury Honor-winning historical tale in poems of the Cuban revolution, by the author of the acclaimed biography Poet Slave of Cuba.

It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much illness. Rosa is a nurse, but she dares not go to the camps. So she turns hidden caves into hospitals for those who know how to find her.

Black, white, Cuban, Spanish—Rosa does her best for everyone. Yet who can heal a country so torn apart by war?

Using the true story of the folk hero Rosa la Bayamesa, acclaimed poet Margarita Engle gives us another gripping, breathtaking account of a tumultuous period in Cuban history.

A 2009 Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the 2009 Pura Belpre Medal for Narrative
Winner of the 2009 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award
A 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year