Rima's Rebellion
Courage in a Time of Tyranny
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
An inspiring coming-of-age story told in prose and “spare, lyrical” verse (The Horn Book Magazine) from award-winning author Margarita Engle about a girl falling in love for the first time while finding the courage to protest for women’s right to vote in 1920s Cuba.
Rima loves to ride horses alongside her abuela and Las Mambisas, the fierce women veterans who fought during Cuba’s wars for independence. Feminists from many backgrounds have gathered in voting clubs to demand suffrage and equality for women, but not everybody wants equality for all—especially not for someone like Rima. In 1920s Cuba, illegitimate children like her are bullied and shunned.
Rima dreams of a day when she is free from fear and shame, the way she feels when she’s riding with Las Mambisas. As she seeks her way, Rima forges unexpected friendships with others who long for freedom, especially a handsome young artist named Maceo. Through turbulent times, hope soars, and with it…love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Beginning in 1923 Cuba and spanning 13 years, Engle's (Light for All) telling traces one young woman joining the fight for women's rights amid her country's misogynistic norms and policies. In Guanabacoa, 12-year-old Rima Marin, who has "warm brown" skin, is a "natural" child who lives with her mother and grandmother. Born out of wedlock and therefore lacking two surnames, she is not lawfully recognized as part of her father's family, while her "cool and pale"-skinned half sister lives a life of wealth and education with the girls' shared father. Rima admires and aspires to be like las mambisas—courageous woman veterans of Cuba's wars of independence from Spain, now fighting for women's suffrage—and joins them, confronting her fear of her father, boys, men, and the society that shuns her. As dictatorship and natural disasters threaten her and her family, she begins to find hope, trust, and equality, as well as love. Fast-moving free-verse lines encapsulate Rima's voice and the bravery she displays throughout this feminist journey to self-worth and women's equality. Back matter includes a historical note and international timeline of women's suffrage. Ages 12–up.
