What is the theme in The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle?

Hope is an important theme in this story. Many of the characters feels a sense of hope, as well as hopelessness throughout this story. Most of the events in this story are tied to either hopefulness or hopelessness. The first use of the word hope is early in the first part of this book. Rosa is describing the runaway slaves who are only armed "with wooden spears and secret hopes."