The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano written by Margarita Engle
This is a heart-wrenching story about a Cuban boy that was born into slavery. He was denied and education but had the talent to memorize poems in several different languages. To his mistress he was a toy that entertained her guests and several years after she died, he was sold to a cruel woman that had him tortured at her whim. Juan Francisco endured the pain and suffering by reciting his poems to himself in his head while he was being whipped. This story allows us to experience what Juan went through in his life and learn that slavery was not only in the United States. This is a touching story that would be recommended for middle school kids so that this treatment would never happen again.
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