Maw Books » free verse novel

Witness by Karen Hesse

Natasha Maw — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:02:52 +0000

Witness by Karen Hesse is told from the viewpoints of eleven different townspeople in a small town of Vermont in 1924. A town in which the Klu Klux Klan has moved in and ultimately changes everything. I adore free-verse novels and Witness is as powerful as they come. Based on true characters, there are photographs at the beginning of the book naming each character. This brought to life to the reader that these emotions, thoughts, lives, and horrific events are not just a made up story. The Klu Klux Kan is a real organization that horrifically changed people’s lives.

Two examples of two different viewpoints of the same event:

johnny reeves
we took a pine
40 feet high and
lashed a cross arm
to it and set the
cross in the ground,
its arms stretching above the town, we soaked burlap bags
in kerosene and wrapped the bags around the wood.
at the foot of the cross i smashed
a railroad torch.
the fire took off so fast. a divine
sight, neighbor,
the flames spread
from the base to the
top. in a matter of
minutes the cross arm
pulsed with fire. the
flames leaping,
seeking heaven
neighbor, the white
crucifix scoring
the night
blazed perfect.
perfect.

leanora sutter

i woke up saturday night
because the light coming through
my bedroom window changed.

on the hill across the valley
i saw
a flame
rising.
but it was
no wild fire. it
was a
cross,
burning.

silently,
silently,
i crept down the hall,
into the closet
where,
at the back,
mamma’s cotton dress
still dangled over her shoes,
and the walls smelled of hair oil and oranges.

in that dark and narrow place,
i opened a hole for myself
but no matter how i turned,
the light from the cross
curled its bright claws under the door.

I did find it interesting but also a bit distracting that there was no capitalization in the entire book. I suspect that Hesse was stripping the text down to its most simple form.

I have yet to meet a free-verse novel that I didn’t like and this one was no exception. Hesse has taken on a grim subject matter and thoughtfully portrayed those who were caught up in something larger than themselves. Beautiful.

Links of interest: More book blogger reviews.
Genre: Historical Fiction, free-verse, ages 9-12.
Publisher: Scholastic. March 1, 2003. Originally published 2001.
Hardcover, 168 pages. ISBN 0439272009
Source copy: Own
Witness is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Natasha Maw — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:01:59 +0000

42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer is aptly named, for it is just 42 miles between the two different life’s that JoEllen lives. 42 miles between the doorstep of her Mother’s downtown city apartment and her father’s farm. When she’s in the city she goes by Ellen and loves to hang out with her friends. On the weekends, she’s Joey who hangs out with her cousin and rides horses. JoEllen doesn’t want to be Ellen or Joey anymore. She just wants to be JoEllen. She no longer wants to be split between two different worlds. Why can’t they merge? She wants nothing more than for her thirteenth birthday to have all of her family and friends together.

42 Miles is a free-verse novel. What I love about free-verse novels is that they cut out all the unnecessary and rather get right to the heart of the matter.

In math class today
Mr. Howard showed us how
the line of symmetry
can divide a shape
precisely in half:
a hexagon
a butterfly
a sunflower’s face,
the same on each side.

The formula for my life:
school days in the city with Mom
weekends on the farm with Dad
holidays, birthdays, summer vacation –
all negotiated.

They try to split me
like an apple’s pale heart
on either side of the blade,
pretending
my life is like
Mr. Howard’s hexagon,
equal parts
no matter
how many times they cut it.

Well worth the few minutes that it took to read. In it’s short 73 pages, JoEllen came alive and I wanted to see her happy, no longer two separate halves but rather a whole. Would make for a great read for tweens who may be adjusting to changes in their family through separation or divorce.

Links of interest: Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction, Free Verse. Approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Clarion Books. March 18, 2008
Hardcover, 80 pages. ISBN 0618618678
Source copy: Library
42 Miles is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg

Natasha Maw — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:26:19 +0000

Oh my. This is my type of book. All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg and I were made for each other. And had it not been for the Cybils, this middle grade free verse novel might have flown under my radar (despite that I now see the reviews for it – all of which are glowing). I have yet to meet a free verse novel that I didn’t like. Combine that with a story that involves the Vietnam war and I can’t resist it.

Two years ago, twelve-year-old Matt, the son of a American soldier and a Vietnamese woman, is airlifted out of his home country of Vietnam and adopted by an American family. He wakes up often with nightmares, but his adoptive mother and father are there to help sooth him. They are able to give him the love and attention that he needs. But he has many adjustments to make and must come to terms with his inner turmoil and guilt from leaving his country, his mother, his little brother, confusion over a father who abandoned them, misunderstanding over his mother who gave him away and apprehension over the love that is now shown to him from a wonderful family.

He was born in the war. His entire life was the war.

He must also face his schoolmates who associate Matt with the war and their brothers and fathers who never came home. Matt’s baseball coach and piano teacher both help heal the rift in Matt’s heart and close the divide between two seemingly different lives. An incredible story of love, healing, and acceptance.

I loved it. Loved it.

The verse just blew me away. As I’m sitting here now wondering what passage I should quote, I want to choose every page I look at.

Mom, Celia, Chris, and me,
we used to be good friends . . .
He leaves his sentence
hanging in the air.

Sometimes the words people don’t say
as are powerful as the ones they do.

Until the war came,
I say, finishing his thought.

He nods.

Until the war came
and ruined everything.

Because of you Matt-the-rat,
there’s no place for me.

Because of you, my wife left.

Because of you, my brother died.

Because of you, I have stumps instead of legs.

My head starts to spin.

The kitchen suddenly feels
as small as the storage room
behind the janitor’s closet.

I’d better go finish my homework, Dad,
I say.
Instead,
I run downstairs
to the basement bathroom
and throw up.

And another:

For two years,
I learned about Vietnam,
but it wasn’t any
Vietnam I remembered.
The teacher
was a tiny woman
with small eyes
who always stayed
in one spot
when she talked,
but those words rolled
up and down,
up and down
the classroom walls
like a glass marble.

She told happy stories
of people and places
I did not know.

Colorful costumes
and carnival dragons
live in another Vietnam,
a Vietnam
that I do not remember.

I close my eyes.
I listen.

I try to remember
the colors,

but I cannot.

I try to form
dragons from
dust,

but I cannot.

I try again.
But I cannot.

My Vietnam
is drenched
in smoke and fog.

It has no parks
or playgrounds,
no classrooms
or teachers.

It is not
on any map
or in any book.

My Vietnam is
only
a pocketful
of broken pieces
I carry inside me.

Prose like this always brings such raw emotion to the surface. Achingly beautiful.

Links of interest: More book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction, free verse novel. Approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Scholastic. April 1, 2009.
Hardcover, 224 pages. ISBN 0545080924
Source copy: Library
All the Broken Pieces is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson

Natasha Maw — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:07:51 +0000

Chess Rumble by G. Neri and illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson is one of those books that I hope people don’t judge based on the cover. I don’t think it’s the best representation of the book. It’s a book that I would have walked by without a second glance. But then of course, I’m a thirty-year-old middle class white mother of two living in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. Obviously, this cover is trying to catch the attention of inner-city young and teen boys. Do you think it works? Doesn’t work? Would love to know what you think.

Marcus is having a hard time both at home and in school. Since the death of his sister, his father has moved out of the house and his mother is having a hard time just keeping it together. Marcus has begun to fight at school and is headed down a road that will get him kicked out of school and his house and one that will be difficult to travel back from.

While at the park, he is challenged to a game of chess from C.M., a nickname that stands for Chess Man, Check Mate and Chess Master. It is through their games together that Marcus begins to learn how to keep his own emotions in check and to always be looking at least three moves ahead – both on the chess board and in real life.

The dust jacket says, “Inspired by inner-city school chess enrichment programs, Chess Rumble explores the ways this strategic game empowers young people with the skills they need to anticipate and calculate their moves through life.” This is a statement that I would completley agree with. I do also agree with Ms. Yingling’s statement that the size and format (including page stock) of the book borders too closely of a picture book. I just can’t see a teenage boy feeling cool touting this book around, if you know what I mean.

Chess Rumble is also told in verse, a format which I always enjoy. Overall, I liked Chess Rumble and found it well worth the read. I just wonder if the same could be said of its intended audience.

Book trailer:

Links of interest: G. Neri website, follow on Twitter, more book blogger reviews,
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, approx age 9-12.
Publisher: Lee and Low Books. November 8, 2007
Hardcover, 64 pages. ISBN 1584302798
Chess Rumble is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

Natasha Maw — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:37:48 +0000

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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Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Natasha Maw — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 06:41:30 +0000

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson is the prequel to Peace, Locomotion which I recently reviewed. I’m not sure which one I enjoyed more. But that’s the beauty of it. I don’t think I have to put one book above the other. Both books could be read on their own but together they are a beautiful story.

Locomotion is the story of Lonnie Collins Motion who at the age of seven, his parents die in a tragic house fire, while he and his sister are on an overnight outing, He is forever changed. After spending some time in a children’s home, Lonnie and his sister are separated and put in two different foster homes. Now at the age of eleven, Lonnie has turned to poetry to help him sift through his feelings as he transitions from his stable home to one of uncertainty.

Lonnie writes:

But when Miss Edna’s voice comes one, the ideas in my
head go out like a candle and all you see left is this little
string of smoke that disappears real quick
before I even have a chance to find out
what it’s trying to say.

So this whole book’s a poem because poetry’s short and

this whole book’s a poem ’cause Ms. Marcus says
write it down before it leaves your brain.
I tell her about the smoke and she says
Good, Lonnie, write that.
Not a whole lot of people be saying Good, Lonnie to me
so I write the string-of-smoke thing down real fast.
Ms. Marcus says We’ll worry about line breaks later.

Write fast, Lonnie, Ms. Marcus says.
And I’m thinking Yeah, I better write fast before Miss
Edna’s voice comes on and blows my candle idea out.

Locomotion is an excellent book for readers of all readers, especially middles readers to introduce them to the fact that poetry isn’t hard to write nor understand. I must admit that I am not a huge poetry fan. It’s usually not what I read in my leisure time, but I will admit that I am loving all the free verse novels I’ve read this past year. Woodson creates the perfect characters and the perfect backdrop of words for them to live in. I truly loved them all. A simply beautiful book.

Other books I’ve reviewed by Jacqueline Woodson: Show Way, Feathers, If You Come Softly and Behind You. Jacqueline Woodson’s website.

Do you read free verse novels? Do you have any favorites that I should read?

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Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Natasha Maw — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:01:19 +0000

Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson is the sequel to Locomotion but when I read it I had no idea. It can be read entirely on its own, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. But I’ll say this, Peace, Locomotion was so touching that I now have Locomotion on hold at the library and I can’t wait to read it.

After losing their parents in a fire Lonnie and his little sister Lilli are put in separate foster homes. The story is told in a series of very loving letters from Lonnie to Lilli. After a rough road, Lonnie is beginning to feel at home. But that doesn’t mean he takes it well when his sister begins to call her foster mother mom and is gradually beginning to forget her parents. He knows that he must capture their memories for both of them. Lonnie is torn between the life that they now have and the life that they’ve left behind. There are a lot of deep issues in this very short book and it’s beautifully told. Such a short review for a book I really enjoyed. Highly recommended. The more I read Jacqueline Woodson the deeper I fall in love.

Other books I’ve reviewed by Jacqueline Woodson: Show Way, Feathers, If You Come Softly and Behind You. Jacqueline Woodson’s website.

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Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Natasha Maw — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:00:09 +0000

Identical by Ellen Hopkins has just about everything you can think of. Dysfunctional family. Check. Extra marital affairs. Check. Sexual abuse, drug abuse, cutting, bulimia, pot, drinking, inappropriate relations with a schoolteacher. Check, check, check, check, check, and check. Identical is the first book that I’ve read by Ellen Hopkins and wow, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s told in free verse and sometimes the form of that free verse makes pictures and there are poems within poems. Maybe this is common but it was all new to me.

You never know what’s going on behind closed doors. The picture perfect American family may not be so perfect after all. Identical is about two identical twin sisters, Kaeleigh and Raeanne, whose family spirals out of control after a car accident, but on the surface you’d never tell. Their father is a well respected judge and their mother is running for a senate seat. But Kaeleigh and Raeanne are falling apart.

There is a huge twist that I did not see coming and I enjoyed it that much more because of it. I do have to admit that although I didn’t see it coming, I was suspicious of a few things that made sense after the reveal. Another admission, it took me about a quarter of the way through this fat 585 page book before I kept the characters straight with each other. Maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention.

Identical is raw, stark, and disturbing. One of those books that you can’t say that you particular enjoy but you don’t quite forget.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

Natasha Maw — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:45:22 +0000

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder is a paranormal romance. Paranormal romance? I didn’t even know that was a genre.

Fifteen year old Ava has just helped bury her boyfriend Jackson. As if that isn’t hard enough, she thinks that his death is her fault. She has a hard time letting go. Her parents encourage her to get out of the house and hang out with her friends. But she doesn’t want to. Why would she when she realizes that Jackson has never really left? He’s back from the dead and Jackson makes his presence known. Ava can feel him, the room is cold (think Sixth Sense here), she can see him in the mirror sometimes. She can’t wait to get home each day so she can spend time with him. But as time goes on, she meets somebody new and Jackson becomes possessive. I Heart You, You Haunt Me explores what we all want. Love. And how to move on when the one we love won’t let us go.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me is told in free verse, making it raw, stark, and very poetic. I’ve enjoyed many free verse novels this year, and while this one wasn’t one of the most memorable, it was well done. A very simple, easy read. I believe many teenagers will like it.

The book trailer:

Lisa Schroeder’s website and blog.

T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte

Natasha Maw — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:45:19 +0000

T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte is a free verse novel for about the age nine to twelve reading level that takes us inside the Holocaust but from a different perspective that we don’t see very often. That of life for a deaf child.

Although life is silent for Paula Becker she’s happy in her home with her parents and sister. But in 1939, Hitler creates T4, the program to euthanize citizens with disabilities and mental illness simply because they would be “better off” and they were not fit for life. Paula’s parents realized that life is no longer safe at home for Paula, so at the age of thirteen they send her into hiding for the duration of the war. While hiding she realizes that she’s not the only one who has reason to be afraid:

I shared my shawl and cloths
With the other children. I liked
Six-year old Nelly. She
Reminded me of Clara.
We huddled together
All nine of us.
And watched the door.
I darned my stocking
With the needle and thread
I brought along.
Nobody spoke.
We told stories
With our eyes
As we stared into
One another’s faces.

I realized
I wasn’t the only one
Who was hated.

The free verse in T4 is simple, short and to the point but it’s very powerful. LeZotte gives enough background information about the Holocaust for young readers to understand, but it’s one of those books that would be good to discuss together. T4 is a quick read (I read it under twenty minutes) that leaves a lasting impression. Although the subject matter is “no fun” this book leaves me wanting more.

T4 is Ann Clare Le Zotte’s debut novel and like her main character she is also completely deaf. I’m looking forward to more! She maintains a blog at Amazon and has a interview that you can check out at Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature.