The author gives the readers a descriptive glimpse into the lives of the people of Cuba. The novel in verse allows its readers the ability to digest such a difficult topic. The author through her words tells us about the food rations and the oppression of the people in Cuba.

A beautiful, sad, and yet hopeful novel in verse, combining prose, poetry, and even moments of poems for two voices, vacillating between the voices of Liana, Amado, and Paz, the “singing dog” who brought them together. This story does a lovely job of highlighting the excruciating challenges of living in Cuba in the 1990’s…a time of extreme hunger, bizarre laws, and many people either starving to death or fleeing as refugees in makeshift rafts fled towards the hope of safety and security in the US. Highlighting a complex time in history, it shows us how things were for Cubans, and it helps us understand why many are still fearful today when thinking about the possibility of having to live through a time like that again.

I was given a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The people of Cuba are living in el periodo especial en tiempos de paz—the special period in times of peace. That’s what the government insists that this era must be called, but the reality behind these words is starvation.

Liana is struggling to find enough to eat. Yet hunger has also made her brave: she finds the courage to skip a summer of so-called volunteer farm labor, even though she risks government retribution. Nearby, a quiet, handsome boy named Amado also refuses to comply, so he wanders alone, trying to discover rare sources of food.

A chance encounter with an enigmatic dog brings Liana and Amado together. United in hope and hunger, they soon discover that their feelings for each other run deep. Love can feed their souls and hearts—but is it enough to withstand el periodo especial?

Margarita Engle is a master - written in poetic form this book is a masterpiece. #NetGalley #YourHeartMySky

Starred review for SHELF AWARENESS. Margarita Engle is phenomenal. This book was a beautiful slow burn.

Your Heart, My Sky was also one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. Margarita Engle is such an amazing writer. For me, she's up there with Elizabeth Acevedo in terms of their shared ability to write such wonderful, engaging stories AND loveable characters but also in knowing exactly what words to use- they just have this ability to know exactly which words fit and it's such a talent. In Your Heart, My Sky, the reader is immersed in this painful image of what Cuba experienced- hunger, labor, and solitude. It's heartbreaking in its plot but so powerful and heartwarming in its portrayal of the two protagonists, teens Liana and Amado. This is a story I'm planning on telling my grandmother and mother about, curious to know what their own experience in Cuba was like- if it's similar to theirs and what they witnessed during this hard time in Cuban history. These stories are so important, thank you Margarita Engle for continuously sharing these experiences :)

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for sharing an early copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book in verse because it showed two sides of a romance/friendship plus the turmoil that was during Cuba’s “time of peace”. This book has pushed me to learn more about this period of history and the people who lived it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this eARC.

This book tells the sad and difficult story of Cubans during "el periodo especial en tiempos de paz". It was a story told from three different points of view, the girl, the boy, and the dog; each of them filled with sadness, preoccupation, and desire to get through those times and obtaining the best they could. I think it is a beautiful way to discuss what happened during that time and how Cubans were treated during the Panamerican Games if you weren't part of the "privilege" class of Cuba. Is a book that could teach students, especially the younger ones, about this time in a creative way. I don't know what else to say that would give justice to this book besides that everyone should read it, therefore they would get to know a little bit more about Cuba's history and Castro's years in the head of Cuba (especially Fidel Castro). And those who have Cuban grandparents or family member that lived that "era" could understand better their point of view on things and story.

I was unaware of the food crisis in Cuba in the 1990s until I picked up this novel told through verse. Verse is the perfect method to tell this story since the empty space on the page fits with the emptiness of the people as they went hungry during this tragic time.
It's a great title to bring awareness to a troubling situation and help answer questions about why Florida finds so many refugees on its shores even today--3o years later.

Margarita Engle tells a tale in verse of a horrific period of starvation in Cuba’s history, the dutiful kindness of a stray dog, and two teens who struggle to make choices to establish some control over their repressed lives. Set during the 1990’s, Your Heart, My Sky tells of Liana and Amado, two teens decide to skip a summer of “volunteer” labor camps and instead are focused on scavenging for food to stave off intense hunger. They are brought together by a singing dog, who knows that they are destined for each other. Both have dreams of a future with more freedom and more nutrition, but there are frightening risks involved in defying their government’s laws that are designed to keep them under control. The poems are told in alternating voices of the three main characters, and though they are expressed in relatively simple terms, there is no denying the emotion the reader will feel for these desperate characters. Both eye-opening and heart-rending, this is a book filled with hope at the core.

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Brittany Searfoss
Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania
Overall Rating:9Format Reviewed: Hardcover
This well written novel in verse takes place in Cuba in 1991, the time of widespread famine and starvation under a cruel dictator. Liana and Amado are teenagers who meet and fall in love as they both search for something to eat each day. As they grow closer, they start small gardens at home, evade the government officials, trade on the black market, befriend a dog they name Paz, and try to decide if escaping by a homemade raft is worth the risk. I enjoyed this quick, heartbreaking read very much. The setting and characters spring to life from the pages because the detailed descriptions are so realistic. I liked the different uses of poetry and the compelling plot. I was disappointed to reach the end and would have liked to know how Liana and Amado were doing years down the road. I highly recommend this book and I believe its message is still relevant and a warning today. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Margarita Engle's story, Your Heart, My Sky, is a gut-wrenching tale about Liana, Armando, and the dog who brings them together. Liana is struggling to find enough food to eat on a daily basis. Armando struggles with starvation and with not wanting to do what the government wants him to do. Paz, the dog, unites these two, and they form a bond. This book helped me understand more about what Cubans encountered during the 1990s. This book was full of beautifully written free verse poems. I recommend this book to middle and high school readers.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

"Your Heart, My Sky" is a novel in verse which sheds light on a period in Cuba's history which I knew little about. This book's sparsely lyrical prose lent itself well to the physicality of the subject matter - its descriptions of hunger, love, sensation, without which Liana and Amado's story would lose much of its impact - and, though its narrative itself wasn't particularly cohesive, it was an evocative, hard-hitting look at a little-known human tragedy. One of the most unique books I've read lately and highly recommended.

In 1991 Cuba Liana is fourteen and chooses to stay home rather than go to the mandatory summer of labor. She risks her future to spend her time looking for food. She encounters a mystical dog who helps her on her quest. They meet Amado, a young man who also skipped the forced labor at great risk to his family (his older brother is already in prison for his own protests). What follows is an inspiring tale told in verse in two voices. The setting, characters, plot, and tension feel as profound as the most detailed prose. This own voice novel in verse will appeal to a wide range of readers. I will definitely purchase this for both my high school and middle school libraries. It is surely a winner in every way.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Margarita Engle has done it again!

This is a fantastic verse novel centering on the early '90s humanitarian crisis in Cuba. Three characters share perspectives: Liana, Amado, and the dog (via an omniscient source). Their experiences are heartbreaking, and Engle takes readers right in to the pain and desperation of starvation, hopelessness, fear, and lacking opportunity. What is even more empowering is how - in the face of all of this - the characters manage to access hope after all, along with love, loyalty, and some incredible grit.

My only point of minor contention was that I wanted even more information about the characters and their experiences, but this is a beautifully articulated exploration of a time and location combo that I knew little about upon entry and want to know much more about as a result of this novel.

I'll be recommending this one to students and friends alike.

This historical novel written in free verse reveals a harsh time in Cuba known as “el periodo especial,” when Russia abandoned the country in the 90s and left Cubans with few resources and a shortage of food. Cuban youth are expected to serve as volunteer labor harvesting crops they cannot eat because all resources are reserved for tourists attending the summer World Games. Liana decides to skip volunteering and instead spends her days searching for food to feed herself, her starving family, and a singing dog that has adopted her. During her daily forages for food, she meets Amado, a quiet, kind young man. Romance slowly blossoms between them, and with it, hope for a better future. Margarita Engle has done a superb job in describing a time in Cuba that the world knows little about.

Poetic and speaking to a certain moment in history, Your Heart, My Sky is the story of two teens facing starvation in Castro's Cuba. Instead of going away to mandatory work camp, they learn to grow their own food and forage, guided by family lore, a mystical talking dog, and their own intuitions. Their love grows alongside their hope and their crops and ideas for their futures. Beautiful.

Simply wow. Margarita Engle is powerful voice in the world of young adult verse novels, and Your Heart, My Sky is a prime example of her talent for exploring culture and personhood in literary form. Well worth adding to bookshelves at home and in school.

A vibrant and moving account of a little-known period of Cuban history, this book will engage readers of all backgrounds with the universal themes of love, family, and sacrifice woven within the historical context. This title would also serve as an excellent starting point for a discussion regarding the choices and hard decision faced by immigrants. Highly recommended.

Margaritas Engle does a masterful job of pulling together the ideas of connection, independence, pain, loss, hunger and longing for something more. Amado and Liana and separate should struggling to stay alive during the starvation period in Cuba in the 1990's. Brought together by a singing dog the two learn how to love during a time of great struggle.
This historical fiction novel in verse was so beautiful and engaging. I could not put it down. Start to finish in one read and immediately wanted to know more about this time in Cuba.
I always look forward to stories by Engle and this did not disappoint. I highly recommend this story!

Another fantastic book by Margarita Engle! This book captivated me from the very first poem. Each poem in the book is filled with emotion and carefully chosen words to capture the moment. The book goes between 3 different perspectives, one being a dog. The book tells the story of 2 young people in Cuba during the 1990's that are struggling to live with little food and a government that isn't helping them and instead is threatening. It showcases what life must have been like for Cubans during that time with all of hardships and hunger but how during that time the power of love has a way of helping people survive. It is heartbreaking to read how hungry the young people where. So much of the book was focused on food and I think that helps the reader understand that one can't focus on anything else if they are hungry. I really enjoyed the how the book included romance while also including insight into an historical time for Cuba. I think that middle or high school students would greatly benefit from reading this book.