Margarita Engle's wonderful young adult novel Wings in the Wild is dedicated to "los caminantes cubanos y los costarricenses generosos," which translates to "the Cuban walkers and the generous Costa Ricans." She also dedicates it to "[the] tree planters and wing dreamers everywhere." The book's two protagonists are Dariel, the "Song-Boy" and Soleida, the "Tocororo-Girl," tocororo being the Spanish name for the Cuban trogon, Cuba's national bird.

Sixteen-year-old Soleida is the daughter of dissident Cuban artists, who secretly sculpt statues of winged beings into the trees of their garden. A muse for her parents and artistically expressive herself, Soleida rescues birds and snails, is raised on tales of the indigenous Taíno bird-girl legend, and dreams of a freedom she and her family have never known. When a hurricane rips away their home and exposes the forbidden artwork, ...