Book Review: The Surrender Tree

Written by: Margarita Engle
Published by: Henry Holt and Company, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8674-4

Plot Summary

The Surrender Tree follows the story of Rosa, a slave in Cuba in the 1800s who works as a healer for runaways who have been captured. Rosa's life coincides with Cuba's wars for independence. She grows up and continues to be a healer for sick slaves who have been freed by their owners but are still sought out by Spain. She is hunted by Lieutenant Death, a boy she knew from childhood who is still a bounty hunter as an adult.

A girl named Silvia who is sent to a reconcentration camp sets out to find Rosa after her family dies in the camp and learns to be a healer from her. When Cuba's woes with Spain finally end, they are faced with a new foe, the Americans.

Critical Analysis

The story is told through the viewpoints of several different characters. Each one has their own style, with Rosa and Silvia's passages being longer and full of imagery while Lieutenant Death and Jose's are more terse and short.

Language is an important feature in the poems, both the use of Spanish and English intertwined as well as word choice. In Rosa's first poem, she says "Some people call me a child-witch, but I'm just a girl who likes to watch". The use of witch and watch helps to symbolize how the 2 concepts are so similar and yet so different. The words are only 1 letter apart but so separate in meaning, just as they are used to describe the same person, Rosa, through her own perspective and that of other people.

When describing the sounds of the jungle at night, Rosa lists several animals and ends with the song of un sinsonte, a Cuban mockingbird. The word not only infuses the Cuban culture into the poem, but it sounds like "sing-song", giving the reader an idea of how the birds, bugs, and animals must sound.

The emotions that the poems evoke in the reader are very real. Lieutenant Death talks about the time his father took him to be healed by Rosa and tells her that his arm has been injured by wolves. Lieutenant Death says "I grin, not because I have to be healed by a slave-witch, but because it is comforting to know that wild dogs can be called wolves, to make them sound more dangers, making me seem truly brave." This says to the reader that although he is putting on a brave front, he is really a scared boy and helps to emote the fear he feels in the moment, due both to the wolves and perhaps also Rosa herself.

The imagery is strong throughout the book. Rosa's description of the burning of Bayamo evokes not only images but smells and feelings as well. You can close your eyes and almost feel as though you are there walking with her. "I watch the flames, feel the heat, inhale the scent of torched sugar and scorched coffee . . . . I listen to voices, burning a song in the smoky sky." Additionally, the use of torched and scorched brings some rhyme into the writing and really drives home the idea of how destroyed everything is.

There are a few references to cages throughout the book and this may be a nod to the slavery that was present in Cuba's early days. At the beginning of the book, Lieutenant Death mentions that his father cuts apart the bodies of runaways and puts them in separate cages so that their spirit cannot fly away. This implies that the slaves will never truly be free, which foreshadows their fate after they are freed by their owners, only to have Spain stake a claim on them.

Cages reappear near the end of the book when Silvia tells Rosa about her grandparents who kept caged birds. They would carry them up a hill to watch the sunset and she remembers the birds singing and dancing, even while caged. This again symbolizes both the slaves as well as Rosa and Jose's adult lives on the run during the wars. Although they were trapped, they still lived their lives and experienced happiness.

Awards Won

2009- Pura Belpre Medal Winner

2009- Newbery Honor Book

Review Excerpt

From Kirkus Reviews, published March 15, 2008

"The poems offer rich character portraits through concise, heightened language, and their order within the cycle provides suspense." 

Connections

Students can read this book alongside a book about the American Revolution and compare the two. Special attention should be paid to how the US changes from their Revolutionary War to the Spanish-American War.

Students can research other instances in which concentration camps were used throughout history. Most people know about their use during the Holocaust but are unaware of other examples.