From: Jeanatkins at aol.com <Jeanatkins>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:30:34 EST

I love the spareness of verse, each word well-chosen, especially when blending with the drive of narrative. Some of my favorite life stories this year include:

Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Often drawing from the language of nature, we enter Josie's world as she experiences the joys and pains of friendship and self-acceptance. The language is simple but evocative.

Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait by Stephanie Hemphill amazingly echoes Plath's wide-ranging poetic forms while illustrating her education in language, sexuality, friendship, love, tragedy, and again and always, poetry.

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.
>From the first page, I was entranced by the unique vision, stumbling but
oh-so-alert, of a boy from Sudan who lands via ?a flying boat? in Minnesota. We get to see snow, the countryside, the city, and school, even a jacket (?a fat shirt?) and gloves (?soft things like hands?) all as if we've never seen them before. What could be more amazing?

Jeannine Atkins www.JeannineAtkins.com Anne Hutchinson's Way, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Views from a Window Seat blog http://jeannineatkins.livejournal.com



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Received on Fri 14 Dec 2007 09:30:34 AM CST