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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:44:19 -0500
It's time to start out discussion for the first part of April: Versify: Novels in Verse.
Do you have any preconceived notions about novels in verse? Do you come to them with anticipation, trepidation, or with expectations no different than you would a prose novel.
I confess that I used to find myself groaning when I open a book and discover it's a novel in verse. But I started doing that less and less thanks to so many outstanding offerings in recnet years. Some of my favorite novels of 2011 were comprised of poems, including Allan Wolf's "The Watch That Ends the Night," Guadalupe Garcia McCall's "Under the Mesquite," and Thannha Lai's "Inside Out & Back Again."
Oh, and then there's Helen Frost. She just knocks me out with every offering, not the least of which is last year's "Hidden."
Reading a novel in poems can be an amazing experience, but one that's challenging to break down. I don't think I initially approach the reading any differently (once I finally stopped groaning): I'm still looking for a good story. But every word matters in a way I'm much more aware of.
What are some of your favorite novels written in verse/poems? And do you approach your analysis of them differently than straightforward prose?
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Wed 04 Apr 2012 04:44:19 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:44:19 -0500
It's time to start out discussion for the first part of April: Versify: Novels in Verse.
Do you have any preconceived notions about novels in verse? Do you come to them with anticipation, trepidation, or with expectations no different than you would a prose novel.
I confess that I used to find myself groaning when I open a book and discover it's a novel in verse. But I started doing that less and less thanks to so many outstanding offerings in recnet years. Some of my favorite novels of 2011 were comprised of poems, including Allan Wolf's "The Watch That Ends the Night," Guadalupe Garcia McCall's "Under the Mesquite," and Thannha Lai's "Inside Out & Back Again."
Oh, and then there's Helen Frost. She just knocks me out with every offering, not the least of which is last year's "Hidden."
Reading a novel in poems can be an amazing experience, but one that's challenging to break down. I don't think I initially approach the reading any differently (once I finally stopped groaning): I'm still looking for a good story. But every word matters in a way I'm much more aware of.
What are some of your favorite novels written in verse/poems? And do you approach your analysis of them differently than straightforward prose?
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Wed 04 Apr 2012 04:44:19 PM CDT
