Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal

Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal

In 1914, the world celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, which connected the world’s two largest oceans and signaled America’s emergence as a global superpower. It was a miracle, this path of water where a mountain had stood—and creating a miracle is no easy thing. Thousands lost their lives, and those who survived worked under the harshest conditions for only a few silver coins a day.    From the young "silver people" whose back-breaking labor built the Canal to the denizens of the endangered rainforest itself, this is the story of one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, as only Newbery Honor-winning author Margarita Engle could tell it. Winner of the 2015 Américas Award A Jane Addams Award Honor Book Green Earth Book Awards Honor Book * "A masterful command of language and space. . . Engle blends the voices of her fictional characters, historical figures, and even the forest into a dynamic coming-of-age story not only of young adults but also of a blustering and arrogant United States." — VOYA, 5Q 5P M J S * "Engle's extraordinary book is a tour de force of verisimilitude and beautifully realized verse that brings to empathetic life the silver people." — Booklist, starred review "As always, Engle's poetry captures with sympathetic wonder and delicate beauty the plight of these disenfranchised voices; here in particular she highlights the natural beauty and love that Mateo, Anita, and Henry find and cling to in the midst of their back- and heart-breaking labor." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "In melodic verses, Engle offers the voices of three [Panama Canal] workers…Taken together, they provide an illuminating picture of the ecological sacrifices and human costs behind a historical feat generally depicted as a triumph." — Horn Book Magazine "This richly developed novel is an excellent addition to any collection. In this compelling story, Engle paints a picture of an often [over]-looked area and highlights the struggles of the people and the arrogance of the Americans." — School Library Journal A Junior Library Guild Selection Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year An NCTE Notable Book in the English Language Arts ALSC Notable Books in the Social Sciences CCBC Choice Fiction for Young Adults CCBC Global Reading list Best Multicultural Books, Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature   Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet and novelist whose work has been published in many countries. Her many acclaimed books include Silver People , The Lightning Dreamer , The Wild Book , and The Surrender Tree , a Newbery Honor Book. She is a several-time winner of the Pura Belpré and Américas Awards as well as other prestigious honors. She lives with her husband in Northern California. For more information, visit margaritaengle.com. MATEO from the island of Cuba JOB HUNT Fear is a fierce wind that sends me reeling down to the seashore, where I beg for work, any work at all, any escape to carry me far from my father’s furious fists. Sailor. Fisherman. Lobster trapper. I’m willing to take any job that floats me away from home. I am not an ordinary war orphan. Papi is alive, but the family part of his mind is deeply wounded. He drinks so much rum that he believes I am his enemy—a Spaniard from the country that lost the war and left so many of its soldiers behind. Spanish veterans flock the seashore, begging for the same jobs that lure me. I’m only fourteen, but I’m strong for a starving boy. So I shove and curse along with the crowd of muscular men, all of us equally eager to reach a fast-talking americano Panamá Canal recruiter who promises food, houses, and money, so much money . . . The recruiter shouts and pounds his fists in the air. His foreign accent makes the words sound powerful as he describes a wild jungle where men who are hired will dig the Eighth Wonder of the World. He says the canal is a challenge worthy of Hercules, a task for giants, not ordinary men, but when he unrolls a map, Panamá is barely a sliver. How can such a narrow bridge of land be so important? After the confusing map, there are pamphlets with pictures of tidy houses, the orderly dining rooms offering comforting details that catch my eye. Lacy curtains and tablecloths, flowers in vases, plates heaped with food . . . So much food. Barriga llena, corazón contento. Full belly, happy heart. That’s what Mami used to say, before cholera claimed her happiness and mine. With the flair of a magician, the recruiter tosses two sun-shiny coins up and down in his hand, until the gold American dollars ring out like church bells or kettledrums in a parade. Those musical coins lure me deeper into the crowd of pushing, rushing, desperate, job-hungry strangers, but as soon as I reach for the recruiter’s paper and pen, ready to sign my name on a contract, the blond man glares