by Alma Fullerton
Published by Harper Tempest
ISBN: 978-0-06-077851-4
$15.99 131 pgs. FIC POP FUL
A touching account of a young man's struggle with the attempted suicide of his mother and the decisions he has to face in the following months. Fullerton doesn't actually describe what happens until page 122, so you can accurately imagine the confusion and loneliness (apparent through journal entries written as free verse) that the young man experiences as his father spirals into a deep depression, his best friend Jack becomes a substance abusing monster, and a new girl Alissa tries to enter his life. His personal torture is over when he makes that life and death decision that nobody should have to make about their own parent.
Recommended grades 9th-12th
Showing posts with label free verse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free verse. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
At first, her parent's divorce wasn't too bad since they only lived four blocks apart in Cincinnati, Ohio. But when her father moved into Grandpa's farm after Grandpa died, it was a whole 42 miles away!
JoEllen became two persons: a city girl named Ellen enjoying fashion, baseball, and old movies with her mother during the week and then a country girl named Jo going to the country fair and visiting the bookmobile with her father on the weekends.
Finally, she decides she has had enough and merges the two lives together by introducing her city friends to her country cousin, creating new organic dishes, changing her clothes and hair and spending time enjoying the things she likes most.
The whole coming of age experience is written in simple free verse poems that describes the two lifestyles magically ("Farm Nights & "Cincinnati Nights").
JoEllen became two persons: a city girl named Ellen enjoying fashion, baseball, and old movies with her mother during the week and then a country girl named Jo going to the country fair and visiting the bookmobile with her father on the weekends.
Finally, she decides she has had enough and merges the two lives together by introducing her city friends to her country cousin, creating new organic dishes, changing her clothes and hair and spending time enjoying the things she likes most.
The whole coming of age experience is written in simple free verse poems that describes the two lifestyles magically ("Farm Nights & "Cincinnati Nights").
Monday, October 6, 2008
Author: Wolf, Allan
Title: Zane's Trace
Publisher: Candlewick Press Date: 2007 ISBN: 9780763628581
Price: $16.99 #of pgs: 177 Call number: FIC WOL
Annotation: Zane's Trace is the story Zane Guesswind, a young man whose teenage
years are made all the more difficult by the fact that his family is troubled by mental
illness, substance abuse and suicide. To make matters worse, Zane has epilepsy, is an
outsider in school and has to live with his aging and crotchety grandfather who treats
Zane, at best, with contempt. As a way of working through his pain and expressing how
he feels, Zane writes and draws obsessively with permanent markers all over his bedroom
walls until one day his frantic scribblings seem to start coming true. First, the bully at
school, who won't give Zane a break, suddenly moves away the day after Zane wishes,
(in writing on his wall), that he'd just disappear. The story quickly changes gears,
however, when, believing he has similarly caused the death of his grandfather, Zane
steals his father's car, (a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda), and begins a 300+ mile trek to
Zanesville, Ohio. There, Zane plans to shoot himself at his mother's graveside, using the
heirloom pistol that she used to kill herself when Zane was only a child. Along the way,
he picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, Libba, and meets motley, and even ghostly, cast of
characters, each of whom helps Zane come to terms with which he is and the hand that
life has dealt him.
Strength: Written almost entirely in free verse, this novel is fast paced, funny and
poignant. It handles serious subject matter with intelligence and honesty without
becoming maudlin. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and readers instantly care
what happens to them.
Weakness: Limited profanity and serious subject matter. However, all topics are handled
tastefully.
Title: Zane's Trace
Publisher: Candlewick Press Date: 2007 ISBN: 9780763628581
Price: $16.99 #of pgs: 177 Call number: FIC WOL
Annotation: Zane's Trace is the story Zane Guesswind, a young man whose teenage
years are made all the more difficult by the fact that his family is troubled by mental
illness, substance abuse and suicide. To make matters worse, Zane has epilepsy, is an
outsider in school and has to live with his aging and crotchety grandfather who treats
Zane, at best, with contempt. As a way of working through his pain and expressing how
he feels, Zane writes and draws obsessively with permanent markers all over his bedroom
walls until one day his frantic scribblings seem to start coming true. First, the bully at
school, who won't give Zane a break, suddenly moves away the day after Zane wishes,
(in writing on his wall), that he'd just disappear. The story quickly changes gears,
however, when, believing he has similarly caused the death of his grandfather, Zane
steals his father's car, (a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda), and begins a 300+ mile trek to
Zanesville, Ohio. There, Zane plans to shoot himself at his mother's graveside, using the
heirloom pistol that she used to kill herself when Zane was only a child. Along the way,
he picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, Libba, and meets motley, and even ghostly, cast of
characters, each of whom helps Zane come to terms with which he is and the hand that
life has dealt him.
Strength: Written almost entirely in free verse, this novel is fast paced, funny and
poignant. It handles serious subject matter with intelligence and honesty without
becoming maudlin. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and readers instantly care
what happens to them.
Weakness: Limited profanity and serious subject matter. However, all topics are handled
tastefully.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Ellen Hopkins's IDENTICAL
Author: Hopkins, Ellen
Title: IDENTICAL
Publisher: McElderry ISBN (library bind):1416950052
Price: $17.99 #pages: 565 Call number: FIC HOP
Annotation: Identical twin daughters of a father who is a local judge and a mother who is running for congress may look identical but have very different ways of dealing with their family secrets. Discovery of the father’s family secrets only slightly helps the reader understand how the twins can deal with their father’s sins. The mother is so detached that the reader will really have little sympathy for her losses. Be prepared for Hopkins’s usual blunt dealings with dysfunctional family problems like bingeing/purge disorders; sexual encounters; cutting; drug and alcohol abuse; and finally incest. The descriptions are in some detail, but the use of use of free verse does lessen the horribleness, somewhat. The twist at the end doesn’t really help, but it is another attempt to help the reader deal with this family.
Recommended grade levels:11-12
Title: IDENTICAL
Publisher: McElderry ISBN (library bind):1416950052
Price: $17.99 #pages: 565 Call number: FIC HOP
Annotation: Identical twin daughters of a father who is a local judge and a mother who is running for congress may look identical but have very different ways of dealing with their family secrets. Discovery of the father’s family secrets only slightly helps the reader understand how the twins can deal with their father’s sins. The mother is so detached that the reader will really have little sympathy for her losses. Be prepared for Hopkins’s usual blunt dealings with dysfunctional family problems like bingeing/purge disorders; sexual encounters; cutting; drug and alcohol abuse; and finally incest. The descriptions are in some detail, but the use of use of free verse does lessen the horribleness, somewhat. The twist at the end doesn’t really help, but it is another attempt to help the reader deal with this family.
Recommended grade levels:11-12
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)