Tropical Seasons

I was very excited to see this new title: Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarite Engle. I was lucky enough to meet this author when she gave a book talk on another book she wrote called The Surrender Tree in 2009 at New Haven Public Library.

It is unlike other historical fiction novels because it is written in free verse, but also because of its subject matter. Until I read this title, I was totally unfamiliar with the role that Cuba played in the acceptance of Jewish immigrants before and during World War II.

The story centers around a young Jewish boy named Daniel. Daniel's parents realize the growing threat and although Daniel is just barely bar-miztvahed, in 1939 they purchase a ticket (using all their money) for  Daniel's passage on a ship with other refugees destined for New York.The ship is turned away due to immigration quotas already having been met in the United States. Canada also turns the ship away. Finally, Daniel lands in Cuba. There he befriends a local girl of the same age, Paloma and an older Jewish man. Since Daniel is alone in a new place unlike any where he has ever lived, he needs all the help he can get from these two friends. Will his family ever find him?