Hurricane Dancers

Engle, Margarita. (2011). Hurricane dancers: The first Caribbean pirate shipwreck. New York: Henry Holt. This free verse novel tells the tale of a pirate, his slave, and a hostage. As she has done so successfully in her previous work, Engle brings history to life and gives voice to her characters as she describes their desperation, their hatred, and their passions. In this story she tells about the early period of exploration during the sixteenth century when a pirate captain named Bernardino de Talavero runs a cruel slave ship and uses one of his slaves, Quebrado, to translate for him when he deals with the Islanders. Quebrado can barely remember a time when he was free since he has been traded from one pirate ship to another for years. His name comes from his cultural heritage and the awareness that he is half islander and half outsider, given that his mother spoke the Taíno Indian language and his father spoke Spanish. When the winds of a hurricane cause the pirate ship to sink, the sea reminds the humans of its great power and its utter lack of regard toward who its victims are. While most of the crew do not survive, Quebrado does, managing to make his way to safety. His rescuers treat him well, and in an ironic twist of fate, it is Quebrado who decides the fate of those who treated him so cruelly. This is a swashbuckling adventure tale, but it is also one that explores freedom, forgiveness, and love.

Engle continues to bring little known historical moments to light and to life as she carefully crafts exactly the story she wants to tell.