Island Creatures

Engle (Wild Dreamers) melds young love, endangered wildlife, and Cuban political history in this sensitively rendered verse novel. When Cuban-born Vida and Adán were children, they bonded over their passion for rescuing animals. But after Vida’s parents died from dengue fever, her investigative photojournalist grandmother Rita relocated her to Miami. Now almost 18, talented photographer Vida and baseball star Adán serendipitously meet again at a South Florida wildlife sanctuary. Their reignited childhood bond creates an emotional haven for Vida from traumatic memories of a sexual assault and for Adán from his father and grandfather’s alcohol reliance and unpredictable rages. Then Adán’s abuelo sees Rita’s photos, an event that unearths intense emotions about the consequences of her journalism’s revelations. Though the language is often mesmerizing (“each airborne kiss/ a star in the magical river/ reflected”), the lyricism may hold readers at a slight remove, and the protagonists’ alternating voices are not always distinguishable. Nevertheless, Engle illuminates the unintended effects of past events on future generations in a moving love story rooted in two teens’ devotion to wildlife and the dangers of climate change. References to empowering contemporary female writers appear throughout. A Spanish-language edition publishes simultaneously. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Agency. (July)