Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir is an illustrated verse memoir by American author Margarita Engle published in 2015. Enchanted Air is a memoir about the author’s Cuban heritage and her journey through biracial identity during Cuba’s Civil War and the Cold War. The book won the American Library Association’s Pura Belpre Author Award for Latina/Latino authors that celebrate the Latino cultural experience. It was also a YALSA Non-Fiction Finalist for excellence in Young Adult Non-Fiction and was named a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree for diverse authors of children’s literature.

This guide refers to the 2015 Atheneum Books Edition.

Content Warning: This guide discusses historical conflict, cultural dislocation, identity struggles, family separation, and emotional stress due to political tensions.

Plot Summary

Engle begins the story on Valentine’s Day in 1947 when her parents meet and fall in love. Her American father speaks English, and her Cuban mother speaks Spanish. Despite this, her father proposes, and they marry.

The next poems describe the events of Engle’s life between 1951 and 1959. She begins by describing her first visit to Cuba, the environment, and her large Cuban family. Engle loves life on the tropical island and includes poetic allusions to magic and mythical creatures.