The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey To Cuba (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I enjoyed this book when I first read it. The author is always so thorough with her narrative.This book tells the narratives of Frederika, Cecilia, and Elena in Cuba- and also Cecilia’s husband Beni, but only slightly. Frederika is a Swedish novelist who visits Cuba, and her host family is Elena’s. Cecilia is a pregnant young slave, who was brought over when she was young and misses her mother and freedom. Cecilia was married off to Beni, and he is a skilled horseman. When Frederika visits, she decides to stay in the small house out back with Cecilia, because she knows English better than Elena.Elena is envious of Cecilia because it seems like she has the freedom to roam around catching fireflies with Frederika. Even though Elena acknowledges Cecilia is a slave and therefore does not have freedom, she likens their situations of roles in the household. The reader may question if comparing slavery and marriage is appropriate? The book The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle is about three different girls who are all telling their stories at the same time. Cecilia is a slave who is pregnant and wants to go home but is not allowed to. Elena is a girl who lives in the small town and her family owns Cecilia. Fredrika is a Swedish traveler who is staying with Elena’s family. She believes that slavery is wrong and does not want to go home until she can help Cecilia or her child. This is a great book that explains a different take on slavery. Most students only hear about the American slavery issues and what happened here. They do not learn about what happened in other places. I think that this is an easy book for children to read and it does not necessarily need to be exclusive to those who can read chapter books. This would be a good book to use in the classroom when learning about civil rights.
What do You think about The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey To Cuba (2010)?
A book about a poem told in poem form. Interesting but left me with many unanswered questions...
—ahhsmurfit
It was beautiful and sad and it reminded me of music in the form of a diary.
—maaanuuu
It was an ok book but I like how I could compare things in the book!
—zeegeees
