A young Jewish refugee's heart-wrenching journey to find hope and belonging in 1940s Cuba.

Daniel has escaped Nazi Germany with nothing but a desperate dream that he might one day find his parents again. But that golden land called New York has turned away his ship full of refugees, and Daniel finds himself in Cuba.

As the tropical island begins to work its magic on him, the young refugee befriends a local girl with some painful secrets of her own. Yet even in Cuba, the Nazi darkness is never far away, as fascist governments and sympathizers threaten the fragile safety of the Jewish refugees.

In this poignant novel in verse, Margarita Engle weaves a tale of resilience, friendship, and the search for belonging. Tropical Secrets sheds light on a lesser-known chapter of the Holocaust, illuminating the experience of Jewish refugees in Cuba during the 1940s. A Sydney Taylor Award-winning book, it is a testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.