"Exceptional." --Booklist (starred review)
"Heartfelt...Thoughtful and effective." --The Horn Book
"Engle's lyrical poetry emotionally conveys the reality of being a
greatly gifted, passionate, and deeply ambitious young man in a
turbulent time." --BCCB
From acclaimed author Margarita Engle comes a gorgeous novel in verse
about Rubén Darío, the Nicaraguan poet and folk hero who initiated the
literary movement of Modernismo.
As a little boy, Rubén Darío loved to listen to his great uncle, a man
who told tall tales in a booming, larger-than-life voice. Rubén quickly
learned the magic of storytelling, and discovered the rapture and beauty
of verse.
A restless and romantic soul, Rubén traveled across Central and South
America seeking adventure and connection. As he discovered new places
and new loves, he wrote poems to express his wild storm of feelings. But
the traditional forms felt too restrictive. He began to improvise his
own poetic forms so he could capture the entire world in his words. At
the age of twenty-one, he published his first book Azul, which
heralded a vibrant new literary movement called Modernismo that
blended poetry and prose into something magical.
In gorgeous poems of her own, Margarita Engle tells the story of this
passionate young man who revolutionized world literature.