Margarita Engle does an excellent job of telling Juan Manzano’s life story through free verse poetry.  I especially enjoyed the multiple points of view as characters take turns telling the story.  Juan is a slave.  His first owner, Dona Beatriz, loves him for his ability to tell stories and entertain her.  She allows his parents to buy their freedom, but refuses to release him because she enjoys his company so much.  She promises his freedom will come when she passes on.  Juan enjoys this life (as much as a slave can enjoy captivity.)  He likes learning and Dona Beatriz’s mansion.  When she dies, however, another woman who has heard about Juan takes him to be her slave.  La Marquese de Prado Ameno is a cruel mean spirited woman.  She is always angry at Juan, tormenting him.  Her son Don Nicolas, likes Juan and tries to be kind to him whenever his mother is not looking.  Still Juan is not free, he watching his mother, father and siblings enjoying their freedom and he expresses his hopes through poetry.  He has learned how to write and read from his first master.  He practices in secret since La Marquesa will punish him if she finds out.  Juan’s mother tries to buy his freedom, however La Marquesa tricks her and refuses to release Juan.  As the story progresses, La Marquesa’s punishments become harsher and harsher.  The reader feels for Juan and can imagine what the life of a slave must be like.  Through it all, he never loses hope.  When he is locked in stocks along with his mother…whipped and tortured…still he tells her songs and words of hope.  Poor Juan’s life has its ups and downs.  Don Nicolas is old enough to get married and takes Juan with him.  However, when people start talking about how special Juan is…Don Nicolas’s mother, La Marquesa, comes to take him back.  Will his life ever be filled with the hope he writes about?  Will he escape or die as La Marquesa becomes more cruel?  Be sure to check out the poems, translated from Spanish, that Juan wrote (included in the back of the book.)  This book will leave you appreciating the life you have and hoping for something like slavery to never happen again.