Okay, so it's Thursday, and I've been spotlighting an amazing verse novel every week this month for National Poetry Month.
Today's title is THE SOUND OF LETTING GO by Stasia Ward Kehoe. This is Stasia's second verse novel, and the first, AUDITION, is just as compelling and beautiful.
I sort of stumbled onto Stasia's work through a group I used to be involved with, The Bookanistas. We formed several years ago as a support system, and one of the things we did was mail around ARCs for review. Sometimes they were just ARCs we got from publishers, but sometimes they were our own ARCs.
That's how I came upon AUDITION. I read it early in my genre exploration of verse novels, and I loved it. Since then, I've left The Bookanistas, but I didn't forget about Stasia's writing. So when THE SOUND OF LETTING GO came out earlier this year, I couldn't wait to read it.
About THE SOUND OF LETTING GO: For sixteen years, Daisy has been good. A good daughter, helping out with her autistic younger brother uncomplainingly. A good friend, even when her best friend makes her feel like a third wheel. When her parents announce they’re sending her brother to an institution—without consulting her—Daisy’s furious, and decides the best way to be a good sister is to start being bad. She quits jazz band and orchestra, slacks in school, and falls for bad-boy Dave.
But one person won’t let Daisy forget who she used to be: Irish exchange student and brilliant musician Cal. Does she want the bad boy or the prodigy? Should she side with her parents or protect her brother? How do you know when to hold on and when—and how—to let go?
I even blurbed the book. Here's what I said: “Achingly beautiful, The Sound of Letting Go takes readers down a dangerous path while touching the heart and encouraging hope.”
And that's how I feel about it. It is achingly beautiful. It is about hope, about Daisy learning how to stand up for what she believes while still being a sister and a daughter. I loved the struggles she goes through, because they felt real -- and they're struggles that don't stop just because we become adults. So the book felt real to me, even outside of being a YA novel. It felt true to life, true to having to make hard decisions in many different areas of life.
But it was also hopeful. I don't need a perfect ending. I just want to feel like the main character will find their way, whether I see it on the page or not. Because I want to feel hopeful about my own life. I don't know what's going to happen yet, but I want to believe that I can figure it out -- just like Daisy does. And THE SOUND OF LETTING GO does that.
What have you read that has provided you with hope?
Okay, so in celebration of National Poetry Month, I thought I'd share with you the very first novel in verse I'd ever read. It was I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME by Lisa Schroeder. I've since read a few more of Lisa's books, and they're all everything a verse novel should be: angsty, precise, vivid, and tense.
Since you have so little room in a verse novel, every word has to count. And Lisa knows how to choose the right words to make them worth their weight in gold.
So let's learn a little bit more about I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME.
Girl meets boy.
Girl loses boy.
Girl gets boy back...
...sort of.
Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.
Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.
It's got a paranormal slant to it, which in my eyes, makes it that much better. If you're looking for a novel in verse to read as your first introduction to the style, I highly recommend I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME.
What book have you loved that introduced you to a new genre?
Okay, so it's April, which means it's National Poetry Month. I know, I know, some of you are madly blogging with the A-Z blogging challenge. My hat goes off to you! I can barely think of anything to blog about these days, though I do have something up my sleeve!
Anyway, since I wrote a novel in verse, I thought I'd spotlight a few books this month that are written in verse that are absolutely wonderful.
Up today is INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN by Thanhha La. It is a brilliant novel that you can read in about 45 minutes. It details the story of Ha as she leaves Saigon and comes to America.
Here's the official blurb: For all the ten years of her life, Ha has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Ha and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope.
This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
I loved how the story came to life with just a few words. I loved the relationships between Ha and her brothers, as well as her mother. The sparseness of the words allows the emotion to flow freely. I think that's one of my favorite things about verse novels in general. INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN is no exception. It's a beautiful novel about a girl and her family surviving terrible things.
I hope if you're looking for a novel in verse to read this National Poetry Month that you'll try INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN. I don't think you're regret it.
Have you ever read a novel in verse? Which one did you like?
