Soaring Earth: A Companion Memoir to Enchanted Air

by Margarita Engle

A companion to Engle’s Enchanted Air continues the story of Engle’s... read more

A companion to Engle’s Enchanted Air continues the story of Engle’s life, focusing on her high school and college years. Starting high school in 1966, she eventually finds a place among a group of smart, quiet kids. Heading off to UC Berkeley, she struggles with homesickness and the chaos of campus unrest over the Vietnam War. She drops out and hitchhikes across the country, spending time in New York City before finally coming home again to California to work and attend community college. It is there she finds her footing in her love of plants and botany, which becomes her major. Continuing on to earn a 4-year degree, she rediscovers the love of poetry she had as a teenager in a class that introduces her to a work by Tomás Rivera. Along the way, there are boyfriends and lessons learned and, finally, love that she can count on. This memoir in poems will be relatable to many teen readers, as Engle’s life follows a path that was far from clearly defined early on. (Age 13 and older)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2020

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