Book review

Silver People: A Tale from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle is a thrill-seeking adventure that incorporates historical events... HECK YEAH!!! This is a story about different perspectives of people living near the Panama Canal. The author captures the emotions of many different people so that you couldn’t help but pity specific characters. Before I start crying let’s talk more about the novel...

Basically, the book outlines how two men from different countries are tricked into slavery. Then they come across a beautiful and mysterious forest, that has the power to change their lives for good.

I will not spoil the plot for you, but all I will say is that I had doubts on this novel until I read the first couple of pages. The book is set out very differently. The writing style is in verse. It took me some time to get my head around it, but I managed. When flicking through the novel I thought that it was filled with poems, but I also realised that it was narrated in by the characters’ perspectives. After a solid two minutes of trying to find out how to read it properly, I figured it out. YAY!

I found that the novel opened my eyes to a whole new concept that I rarely thought about. I never imagined that young people could endure so much hardships in their life. Reading the novel made me think about the characters and how vulnerable they were and yet strong. They seemed to carry on with their difficult lives and somehow didn’t seem overwhelming to them.

The book is consistently captivating and I don’t think I remember putting it down often. It is an easy read, and is listed for Premier's Reading Challenge. I admire how I am able to have fun and still learn a lot about the Panama Canal. Margarita did an amazing job at showing many diverse mindsets and incorporating detail with simplicity. I love reading this novel and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a hint of romance and a whiff of adventure. I give this novel a ⅘ !!!

-K Randall, Year 9