Rima Marín fights overwhelming oppression in 1920s Cuba.
Life isn’t easy for Rima, a 12-year-old living in Guanabacoa, Cuba, in 1923. She lives with her mother and grandmother and helps them with their lacemaking and blacksmithing, but she’s a squatter on her father’s land. Brown-skinned, multiracial Rima is a “natural” child, born out of wedlock, possessing no rights, and not acknowledged as a member of her father’s family; meanwhile, her light-skinned half sister, Violeta, leads a privileged life with their father. Rima lives in a time when it is within the men’s legal rights to murder their wives or daughters if they are caught with a lover (the other men are fair game, too). Clearly, she’s got a lot to rebel against, and readers will understand why she becomes a mambisa, joining a legacy of women activists on horseback who fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain and women’s suffrage. The life of this fictional character highlights crucial subjects, such as Cuba’s complex ethnic and racial history and the long struggle for women’s rights. Unfortunately, the book’s brevity doesn’t allow readers to dig deeply enough into these issues. The poetry is beautiful, but the verse form paired with a fast-paced plot—Rima’s narrative jumps through time and plot points at lightning speed—leaves readers feeling breathless.
A worthy story about Cuba’s feminist history that moves too quickly.
(historical note, timeline) (Verse novel. 12-18)