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The Firefly Letters
The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba | Margarita Engle
11 posts | 9 read | 16 to read
The freedom to roam is something that women and girls in Cuba do not have. Yet when Fredrika Bremer visits from Sweden in 1851 to learn about the people of this magical island, she is accompanied by Cecilia, a young slave who longs for her lost home in Africa. Soon Elena, the wealthy daughter of the house, sneaks out to join them. As the three women explore the lush countryside, they form a bond that breaks the barriers of language and culture. In this quietly powerful new book, award-winning poet Margarita Engle paints a portrait of early women's rights pioneer Fredrika Bremer and the journey to Cuba that transformed her life. The Firefly Letters is a 2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book for Narrative and a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
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Eggs
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YA HF in verse, based on a true story. When Frederika Bremer, from Sweden 🇸🇪, sets off to learn about the people of the magical island of Cuba 🇨🇺, she is accompanied by Cecilia, a young slave who longs for her lost home in Africa. They are joined by Elena, daughter in the house where Frederika is staying. The 3 women form a wonderful relationship that transcends language, backgrounds, and social conventions 💗
#Pantone2023
#20in4ReadathonDay4

Eggs #RushAThon Day 28 1y
dabbe This could be an excellent one for #HairOnCover, too! 🤩 1y
Eggs @dabbe Right you are mon ami 🥰 1y
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jmtrivera
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Mehso-so

The poetry included a number of powerful lines that I really enjoyed. I found it to be a little hard to engage with all the characters equally and was most connected to Cecilia, but it was still an interesting and thought-provoking read.

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CollapsingLibrary
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Pickpick

⭐️3.5/5 Good early YAL novel in prose; based on the life of a young Swedish woman who fought for equal rights for women and the freedom of slaves in the mid 1800s.

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CollapsingLibrary
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First pool read of the year

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GatheringBooks
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#ReadingResolutions Day 29: For #FeministFriday, I am sharing an award-winning novel-in-verse about Fredrika Bremer who was Sweden‘s first woman novelist and earliest advocate of equal rights for women. We invited Margarita to be one of the speakers here in Singapore in 2012 for the Asian Festival of Children‘s Content. My interview with her: https://gatheringbooks.org/2015/03/26/meet-the-storyteller-the-women-and-poetry-...

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WanderingBookaneer
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Finished reading this as darkness falls unto my island. It may well be my favorite novel in verse. I loved this tale and will now search for works by Fredrika Bremer to learn her story from firsthand accounts. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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WanderingBookaneer
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Can't remember where I first read about this novel in verse, but I am liking it thus far.

Johanna414 I read a memoir of hers in verse recently and loved it! (edited) 7y
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julesG
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TrishB Lovely cover 💜 7y
Kalalalatja Great cover! 7y
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GatheringBooks
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Pickpick

#Septembowie Day 11: These are two award-winning novels-in-verse about the fearless journeys of suffragettes for #suffragettecity - one is a historical fiction while the other is a biography in poetry. my reviews can be found here. - bit.ly/crossingstones and bit.ly/fireflyletters

Cinfhen Both sound fantastic 💕💕thanks for posting & sharing 😀 7y
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Daisey
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This a short but lyrical novel in verse about Fredrica Bremer's visit from Sweden to Cuba in 1851. Told in alternating points of view, it includes Fredrika's view of life on the island as a woman who believes strongly in equal rights for all, Cecelia's view as a young slave woman, Cecelia's husband Beni's view, and Elena's view as the planter's daughter who also feels trapped with no control over her own life.

#historicalfiction #novelinverse

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