The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Engle, M. 2010. The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba. Henry Holt and Co. ISBN-10: 0805090827

PLOT SUMMARY

Pura Belpre Award winning book (2011), The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba, is a captivating, enchanting, and eye-opening story written by Margarita Engle. The story is told from 4 different perspectives and smoothly alternates between each voice. The story concentrates on Cuban life in the mid 1800’s. Fredrika, a Swedish suffragette, is a free-spirit that leaves her wealthy home to explore the world. Fredrika believes women, men, and all races should be equal and free. Excited to visit Cuban paradise, she quickly discovers it’s heaven on Earth, but the people in it are not as beautiful from within. The moon brings boats with African children in it. Freedom comes with a cost. Even Elena, the wealthy daughter of the man in charge of illegal transportation of slaves, feels trapped within her mansion. Women don’t have a voice or a choice. Cecilia, the slave translator, lives a life of sorrow in a world of paradise. She dreams of her home back in Africa. Beni, Cecilia’s husband, was chosen for her by her owner, but they are merely strangers. She is pregnant and fears for the life of her child in a place so ruthless. Surprisingly, Elena ends up being a hero for Cecilia’s baby. She raises enough money from her luxurious sown cloths and donates the money to help free Cecilia’s unborn child. The book is an eye-opener, helping the reader understand life in Cuba from different women’s point of views at the time.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Margarita Engle writes beautiful poetry about women during a period of time when rights belonged to the privileged. Her poetry is easy to follow along for older children and adds subtle references of symbolism. Fireflies seem to be a common symbol of freedom throughout the story. The Cuban fireflies roam freely and beautifully with their captivating glow that illuminate the night sky. People capture them and use the fireflies as ornaments on dresses and hair accessories, and children play with them until they tear them apart. Cecilia, the slave, mentions, “Fredrika and I feel like heroines in a story, following people around buying captive fireflies and setting them free.” The fireflies symbolize enslaved people and the light that’s within them.

Engle also uses the moon as symbolism. In the story the moon is said to be dangerous. Fredrika questions, “How can anything as beautiful as a moonlit night be dangerous?” She soon realizes the moon, meaning the night time, brings secret boats filled with slaves. Elena mentions, “Even though ships from Africa are illegal, Papá and the other planters know how to keep them coming, each with seven or eight hundred new slaves, mostly children who are less likely to rebel or escape.” The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba is surely an allusion to history’s greed, customs and inequality. Readers get to experience the differences between a free traveling woman, a slave, and a wealthy young girl.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “This slim, elegant volume opens the door to discussions of slavery, women's rights, and the economic disparity between rich and poor. Ages 10–up.” (2010)

THE BULLETIN: “The author has a gift for imbuing seemingly effortless text with powerful emotions. . . .This uncommon story will resonate.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “This engaging title documents 50-year-old Swedish suffragette and novelist Fredrika Bremer's three-month travels around Cuba in 1851. . . . The easily digestible, poetic narrative makes this a perfect choice for reluctant readers, students of the women's movement, those interested in Cuba, and teens with biography assignments.”

BOOKLIST: “Through this moving combination of historical viewpoints, Engle creates dramatic tension among the characters, especially in the story of Elena, who makes a surprising sacrifice.”

CONNECTIONS

Classroom Activity: Students will write a small versed poem about unfair treatment, situations or experiences, using symbolism of their choice and illustrate their poem.

Library Activity: Students are able to read their short poem in front of a small group. Discussions are encouraged.

Have books available by the same author, Margarita Engle:

-Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings (S. & S., 2015)

-Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom (Holt, 2008)

-Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba (Holt, 2009)

-The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba (Holt, 2010)

-Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck (Holt, 2011)

-The Wild Book (HMH, 2012)

-The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist (HMH, 2013)

- Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal (HMH, 2014)

-Lion Island: Cuba’s Warrior of Words (Atheneum, 2016)