Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
I can’t help myself. Since discovering free-verse novels, I am completely in love with the genre. Despite the fact that the subject matter of Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas is one that literally makes you sick to your stomach, it’s one that I’m glad to have read.
Anke’s home is not one of love. It’s one of abuse. Anke, her brother, her sister and mother all live with a dark secret. Anke’s father abuses them all. Her mother, brother and sister through emotional, physical and sexual abuse. But for Anke, it’s neglect. It’s a complete lack of attention from her father. She might as well be invisible. In fact, she might as well just be a piece of furniture in the home.
I am always there.
But they don’t care if I am
because I am furniture.I don’t get hit
I don’t get fondled
I don’t get love
because I am furniture.Suits me fine.
Anke despises the abuse. Wishes she could speak up about it. Wishes she had the power to stop it. But she fears that her father would kill them all if she stepped up to him. So the abuse continues. Her father comes home at night and goes into her sisters room. She knows the hell that her sister is going through but does nothing but listen.
I appreciated where the author then took the story of Because I Am Furniture and the thought process of Anke. Anke was jealous. Why did her sister receive her father’s attention? Was she herself not pretty enough? Not worthy enough? In some sickeningly, round-a-bout way she equated love with the abuse. They were worthy enough to gain the attention of their father. She was not. I found this thought process fascinating.
Anke makes up for her feelings of insignificance by trying out for the volleyball team at school. Volleyball opens up a whole new world to Anke. One where she is forced to be powerful on the court, one where she must yell to be heard. She finally learns how to have a voice and to truly be in a comfortable environment. She also makes a friend, somebody else with an abusive background. Despite never sharing the nightmare of a home she lives in, she’s happy to have somebody who understands her and doesn’t ask to many questions.
As Anke’s voice grows, her father’s abuse also increases. But this time, he’s beginning to notice Anke’s classmate, a girl who thinks that he’s the best dad ever and doesn’t understand why Anke doesn’t think her dad is even cute? The story accelerates to a devastating climax where Anke finally uses her newly found confidence to step up and do something.
Because I Am Furniture is heartbreaking. I truly felt pity for each of the characters and fury at the father. I was invested in these characters. They were alive to me on the pages and I wanted to yell at them to get help. Get out of there. Leave. Do something! It’s so frustrating to see characters don’t do something that when you are on the outside looking in, seems so apparent and easy. You never know what is going on in the house next door.
If abuse, especially abuse of children, is a subject matter that you can handle, I’d recommend this one. It was powerful. Obviously, if it’s a topic that you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole , I’d stay far far away.
How do you feel about reading books about abuse? I know many refuse to read them. Many want happy books. Or find that they emotionally can’t handle it. Which side of the fence are you on?
Links of interest: Thalia Chaltas website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Young Adult, Novel-in-Verse
Publisher: Viking Juvenile. April 16, 2009
Hardcover, 368 pages. ISBN: 0670062987
Source: Library
Because I am Furniture is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
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Tags: A-D Author, A-D Title, abuse, child abuse, female author, Fiction, free verse novel, published 2009, Publisher: Viking Juvenile, sexual abuse
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I guess I can handle books on abuse. I read ‘A child called it’ and ‘Abandoned’ and they were definitely very graphic in nature.
I’m not sure if I can handle them once I have kids of my own though.
on August 28th, 2009 at 3:13 amI try not to refuse to read anything. Even if a topic is uncomfortable for me, it’s always valuable to attempt understanding of such difficult issues, IMO. If we avoid all the ills in the world, we’ll never be able to see and fix them, nor sympathize and help those who have lived through them. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a free verse novel, but I’m willing to give it a try.
on August 28th, 2009 at 3:21 amThis book sounds really good and interesting! I work with abused children daily so it doesn’t bother me to read about it. I guess some people would want to get away from it since we do hear about it all day at work but I think what an author can do and the way they can get inside the heads of the characters is amazing.
on August 28th, 2009 at 5:50 amThis sounds incredibly hard but definitely worth a try. I like the angle. Well, alright I don’t LIKE the angle of course, but it’s certainly an interesting one given that’s it isn’t about active abuse but rather extreme neglect. hank you for such a great review.
on August 28th, 2009 at 6:12 amI was so angry with Anke’s father, I just wanted to throw this book at the wall. It was a powerful story, and I could even understand why Anke felt the way she did, even though I didn’t want her to feel that way.
on August 28th, 2009 at 6:50 amI’ve never really liked free verse novels but that’s not to say I wouldn’t try again. I think it’s important to read about difficult topics. Only by being aware of the ills of the world can we do something to stop them.
on August 28th, 2009 at 7:15 amwow–this sounds really good! now i want to read it.
on August 28th, 2009 at 7:33 amI can’t recall a novel I’ve read that was written in free verse, hmm …
I don’t know if I’m up for this one or not, though. I do read dark books sometimes, but I can’t live on a steady diet of them. I need balance in my reading.
on August 28th, 2009 at 8:37 amI generally prefer non-fiction books about child abuse but think it’s important to read them. It’s such a dirty little secret in our society and if more people talk about it, write about it and read about it, maybe we can collectively do something about it. Pretending it doesn’t exist isn’t going to make it go away. It is admittedly, difficult to read about though. I like your review and even though this is a novel I will be adding it to my ever-growing to-read list. *Sigh*
on August 28th, 2009 at 9:15 amVery thoughtful review. I’ve seen this book and was intrigued by the cover and premise. I have a really hard time with child abuse books because I have two little kids and I just can’t imagine–have you read The Chosen One? I had to stop reading but it was so gut-wrenching, but it’s extremely well written. I will finish it one day.
on August 28th, 2009 at 9:17 amWow, this seems like some heavy reading material. Were you sobbing by the end? I would be a mess.
on August 28th, 2009 at 9:19 amI read a number of books about child abuse before, but now that I have a young child I don’t know if I could handle it. They just make me feel sick. This does look like a good one, though. And I like that it’s in free verse- I haven’t read many novels written that way.
on August 28th, 2009 at 9:29 amI sometimes enjoy books written in verse, and sometimes I don’t. It sounds like an intense read. I haven’t read any books on abuse, so I’m not sure I could handle it or not. I guess I’ll have to see.
on August 28th, 2009 at 9:29 amIt’s hard for me to read these kinds of books, but I consider them books that need to be written, and need to be read. Remember when Laurie Halse Anderson spoke at TKE about writing SPEAK because it was the book that demanded to be written? Same with Wingergirls. I loved that idea.
I will read this, eventually. Just not today. Maybe tomorrow.
on August 28th, 2009 at 11:24 amIt depends on how it’s handled. If there is any hint of sensationalism I don’t like it.
This one sounds good.
on August 28th, 2009 at 12:31 pmI just don’t know if I could read a novel in free verse!
on August 28th, 2009 at 12:53 pmCan’t touch this one with a ten-foot pole. Thank you for your review, but this is one subject matter that I can’t handle without suffering from nightmares for weeks afterward.
I recently read Pat Conroy’s South of Broad, and I could handle what was presented along this line for most of the novel, but at the very end, it got really hard for me to read.
on August 28th, 2009 at 1:27 pmI have read books on abuse (of course now with my head cold completely overtaking my ability to think, I can not offer up a title). I can read such books if written well and respectably – this one sounds from your review that it is. Hard subject matter is a part of life and while some of my book club has balked at tougher reads (We Need To Talk About Kevin, Nineteen Minutes)… I like to walk alongside the character even if it is a tough walk.
on August 28th, 2009 at 4:37 pmThe writing style here is new to me but looks as one I would like to read.
Free-verse is something I never really got into. But if a book has really powerful subject matter (like this one), I’m more inclined to give it a go I think.
I find reading about abuse quite difficult, but it’s not something I really avoid.
on August 28th, 2009 at 5:02 pmIt is definitely a hard topic to read about. I know I avoid many books that deal with it, but not everything. There are exceptional books that deal with it in very careful ways – those I would read. But, it is very hard to go into a book knowing that is what it is about. Especially when it involves children.
on August 28th, 2009 at 5:14 pmI can read about the abuse, but it makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t avoid it though. The abuse and illness of children is something I have a hard time accepting in relation to my faith.
I have never read free verse. I don’t know if it would keep my attention, but for this one I would be willing to try.
on August 28th, 2009 at 5:25 pmWell…I went from laughing at the title when looking at your review on my google RSS feed to holding my breath while reading your review and excerpts.
I’ve read a few books about abuse, both retellings by victims and realistic fiction. Sometimes they are the hard books to read, but almost always a book I feel that I needed to read. I always feel like I have learned something or enlightened myself when I read a book about real-life situations.
on August 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pmI just recently read Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, another great book on this topic. I think books on abuse are absolutely necessary, not just for the sake of victims, enablers, and abusers but for outsiders (who are uninvolved and then suddenly are confronted with a situation involving abuse) to know and understand what’s going on. It happens all the time, and I don’t think it will ever stop, but having books like these make it harder to ignore–and that’s a good thing.
on August 29th, 2009 at 9:04 amThis sounds really interesting, though I don’t know if I’d be able to pay attention while reading a free verse book. I would be willing to read a book about abuse, though I wouldn’t want ALL the books I read to be about such depressing topics.
on August 30th, 2009 at 5:32 pmI’ve read this one as well. But I’ve read other YA books that were more difficult to handle–emotionally. Have you read any Ellen Hopkins??? She writes verse novels as well.
on September 4th, 2009 at 9:56 amIf you want a hopeful verse novel, read Rubber Houses by Ellen Yeomans. It’s short, sweet, and redeeming. Starts out very sad, though: the topic is grief, the death of a younger sibling (cancer).
on September 4th, 2009 at 1:20 pmThis sounds like quite a poignant story. Though I have to say that the premise sounds reasonably disturbing, that idea of the protagonist feeling jealous of her abused sister is an interesting concept. And it’s quite believable too. I imagine this as something that actually happens in real life, as scary as it may sound.
Normally, I’d stay “far far away” from stories like this as I may not be able to take them, but your review does make me want to read it. And I’ve never read a free-verse novel before, so that really makes it interesting. I guess I’ll have to see when I find it in the bookstore.
Anyway, Natasha, I’ve chosen you as one of my recipients for a blogger award. I hope you pick it up from my site:
http://absorbedinwords.blogspot.com/2009/09/gracious-gifts.html
on September 5th, 2009 at 10:33 pmI don’t mind reading books about abuse, as long as the topic is handled sensitivley. This sounds like a very different book. I’m not sure it is for me, but I might have a quick read if I spot a copy in a book shop. You never know – I may be hooked from the start.
on September 7th, 2009 at 11:10 am[...] Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas [...]
on November 16th, 2009 at 3:04 am[...] Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas [...]
on December 30th, 2009 at 9:28 pmI’ve read this book and it’s really, really good. It lets you know what some of these poor kids go through on a daily basis
on January 19th, 2011 at 9:15 pm