Margarita Engle may well be the most awarded children’s and YA author in California, with, according to TeachingBooks.net, 172 awards and distinctions. “Wild Dreamers” is the latest book by the Cuban-American author Engle. As has become expected from her books, it is a combination of diverse themes and characters as well as focus on the environment.
The book was written for students in grades 7-9. The publisher is Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
“Wild Dreamers” by Margarita Engle was released on Tuesday, April 23.
Book Summary: “Ana and her mother have been living out of their car ever since her militant father became one of the FBI’s most wanted. Leandro has struggled with debilitating anxiety since his family fled Cuba on a perilous raft.
One moonlit night, in a wilderness park in California, Ana and Leandro meet. Their connection is instant—a shared radiance that feels both scientific and magical. Then they discover they are not alone: a huge mountain lion stalks through the trees, one of many wild animals whose habitat has been threatened by humans.
Determined to make a difference, Ana and Leandro start a rewilding club at their school, working with scientists to build wildlife crossings that can help mountain lions find one another. If pumas can find their way to a better tomorrow, surely Ana and Leandro can too.”
The Author’s Description of the Book: “It’s a love story with an environmental theme that includes a high school rewilding club, a conservation dog, and wildlife crossings to protect urban mountain lions from California’s traffic.”
About Margarita Engle
Margarita Engle was born in Pasadena, California to an American father and a Cuban mother. While she lived in Los Angeles, Margarita spent many summers living with family in Cuba. That time living in Cuba created a strong bond with the country of her mother. It is that strong bond that flows through Engle’s books.
Website: MargaritaEngle.com
Wikipedia: Margarita Engle
TeachingBooks: Margarita Engle
Publisher Page for “Wild Dreamers”
Awards and Distinctions (from TeachingBooks)
Books by Margarita Engle
| Title | Language | Year | Summary | Buy* |
| “Wild Dreamers” | English | 2024 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Sculptors of Light” | English | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Las Escultoras de La Luz” | Spanish | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Water Day” | English | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “El dia del agua” | English | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Wings in the Wild” | English | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Alas Salvajes” | Spanish | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Singing with Elephants” | English | 2022 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Light for All” | English | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Luz para todos” | Spanish | 2023 | Summary | Buy* |
| “A Song of Frutas” (co-author: Sara Palacios) | English | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Un Pregón de Frutas” (co-author: Sara Palacios) | Spanish | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “With a Star in My Hand: Rubén Darío, Poetry Hero” | English | 2020 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Con una Estrella en la Mano: Rubén Darío” | Spanish | 2020 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems” | English | 2019 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln” | English | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Manos que bailan: Cómo Teresa Carreño tocó el piano para el presidente Lincoln” | Spanish | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Soaring Earth: A Companion Memoir to Enchanted Air” | English | 2019 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots” | English | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Flying Girl: How Aida de Acosta Learned to Soar” | English | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “La joven aviadora: Aída de Acosta sube muy alto” | Spanish | 2021 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Miguel’s Brave Knight: Young Cervantes and His Dream of Don Quixote” | English | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Miguel y su valiente caballero: El joven Cervantes sueña a don Quijote” | Spanish | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Forest World” | English | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “La Selva” | Spanish | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “All the Way to Havana” | English | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Todo El Camino Hasta” | Spanish | 2018 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Bravo: Poems about Amazing Hispanics” | English | 2017 | Summary | Buy* |
| “¡Bravo!: Poemas sobre Hispanos Extraordinarios” | Spanish | 2017 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Morning Star Horse” | English | 2017 | Summary | Buy* |
| “El Caballo Lucero” | Spanish | 2017 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Lion Island: Cuba’s Warrior of Words” | English | 2016 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Isla de leones: El guerrero cubano de las palabras | Spanish | 2019 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir” | English | 2015 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Aire encantado: Dos culturas, dos alas: una memoria” | Spanish | 2017 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist” | English | 2015 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music” | English | 2015 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Una Nina Un Tambor Un Sueno” | Spanish | 2016 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal” | English | 2014 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist” | English | 2013 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Wild Book” | English | 2012 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck” | English | 2011 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian” | English | 2010 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba” | English | 2010 | Summary | Buy* |
| “Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba” | English | 2009 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom” | English Spanish | 2008 | Summary | Buy* |
| “The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano” | English | 2006 | Summary | Buy* |