Novel in Verse, A TIme to Dance : Kelsey

 Novel in Verse -Kelsey

A Time to Dance

Venkatraman, P. (2014). A Time to Dance. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Venkatraman writes a story about a young girl named Veda taking place in India. Veda is a young girl who wants nothing more than to be a famous dancer. In the beginning of the story she is a competitive dancer of the traditional Bharatnatyam which is a classical dance style in India. Veda feels a rush as she receives applause and lives for the pride she has after she dances. Early in the story; however, her world comes crashing down around her. Veda is not able to dance anymore after an accident cripples her and forces her leg to be amputated. Veda begins to sink into a depression over the loss of her limb. She is pulled out of this depression by a doctor who has faith that with prosthesis he can get her moving again. In time Veda is able to learn a very important lesson about what dance really is and the aspects of dance she should truly value. Veda learns to love herself for more than her ability to dance. By the end of the story Veda is teaching young children how to dance and she has found a person that she truly cares for. Veda has learned to appreciate others and has been humbled by her experiences.

            This story has a great ability of helping young people to understand that any circumstance can help us to grow and become better people. This is also a great piece to use in a variety of classes. There is certainly another culture that can be learned about in the story. In addition students can learn a lot from the use of poetry to help the narrative flow. As students who struggle with reading use this text they will be better able to get a lot of information in a small amount of text. There is also a lot to be said in this book for character development. Students could learn a great deal about haw characters can evolve and change in a story. The study of other cultures would be greatly beneficial because of the references made to so many Indian customs and beliefs. This book could be used while learning about the culture of India and history of the country. 

Novel in Verse - Brown Girl Dreaming

Lisa

Brown Girl Dreaming is a novel in verse depicting the early childhood of the author, Jacqueline Woodson during the 1960’s. After leaving their father in Ohio, Jacqueline and her siblings live in South Carolina with their grandparents while their mother goes to New York in search of work and establishing a home for her family. Several years later, the siblings move to Brooklyn with their mother, but feel caught between two worlds: the North, with their mother but where the life of a Jehovah witness is not understood, and the South, with their grandparents but where the northern way of talking is not understood and civil rights is still a work in progress. “I want to ask: Will there always be a road? Will there always be a bus? Will we always have to choose between home – and home?” (p.104). Seemingly caught in a void, Jacqueline creates a world of her own, with few friends outside her immediate family. Her days are filled with board games, swings, church, hopscotch – and always stories. “Somewhere in my brain each laugh, tear and lullaby becomes memory.” (p. 20). Although she struggles to read, Jacqueline loves books, storytelling and knows she wants to be a writer someday. As the memoir ends, Jacqueline is only in fifth grade, but already knows her writing will be the gift she shares with the world. “I don’t know how my first composition notebook ended up in my hands, long before I could really write someone must have known that this was all I needed.” (p. 154)

Although this book only depicts the first ten years of Woodson’s life, her words and writing style helps us to visualize growing up as an African-American in both the North and the South in the decades of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Issues and events of the civil rights era are woven throughout the book. Yet, Woodson’s childhood memories are more clearly defined by major events in family members’ lives than the larger societal landscape. This makes the book more accessible and relatable to readers, while challenging them to define what is home to them, seize the moment, and find their passion so they    too can change the world. “I know my work is to make the world a better place for those coming after.” (p. 252). Section titles reveal upcoming themes and feelings, while the use of stanzas and spacing between lines is an unusual, but effective editorial tool that gives emphasis to key passages. “Each day a new world opens itself up to you. And all the worlds you are – gather into one world called YOU where YOU decide what each world and each story and each ending will finally be.” (p. 320). A winner of the National Book Award and the Coretta Scott King Award, this book is recommended for upper elementary students and all ages beyond.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books. 

Novel in Verse - Like Water on Stone - Kate

Kate

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511-DaZXt0L._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

 



            The novel in verse, Like Water on Stone by Dana Walrath, tells the intertwined stories of the three youngest members of an Armenian family and an eagle, Ardziv from 1914-1919 in Armenia where the Turks, Kurds and Armenians coexist peacefully. Thirteen year old Shahen is taught by the Armenian priest, Father Manoog, but dreams of traveling to America to live with his uncle. His twin sister, Sosi, has no interest in leaving home as she has fallen in love with the clockmaker’s son. Papa will not allow Shahen to leave for America as he foolishly believes that even after the Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia that the Turks and Kurds will protect his family. Shahen speaks of his father, “He’s the one who dreams of peace, that friendships will protect us. It’s his eyes, not mine, that must open before the soldiers come again” (Walrath, 2014, p. 111). But, the soldiers come and take the two oldest brothers away with their hands tied behind their backs as well as any other Armenian men that able to fight. After the Armenian males were taken and executed, the women, children, and young boys too young to fight were killed or forced to walk to northern Syria with no food or water.  Before their parents are executed, they send Shahen, Sosi, and their younger sister, Mariam to make their way during the nights to the safety of Aleppo as the eagle, Ardziv watches over them from the sky to ensure their safety. Thankfully, they are taken in by a family who hides them until their uncle sends them tickets to America.   

The book is told in four parts: Palu in 1914, Massacre in 1915, Journey and Summer of 1915, and 1919 as a novel in verse.  Having never read a novel in verse, I read it as though it were any other book, as it’s still a narrative. Now, as I review the structure, I can see the similarities in syllables in many of the lines. I think the way this book was written enhances the reading experience and sets it apart from many others. The topic of Armenian genocide is not a well-known one and telling it using a verse structure gives it a unique quality, as well as a reduced amount of text that could entice reluctant readers. The topics of mutilation, rape, and the graphic descriptions of murders call for a recommended audience of high school students and adults.

  

Bibliography

Walrath, D. (2014). Like Stone on Water . Delacourt Press.



Like Water on Stone - Novel in verse

Like Water on Stone

By Dana Walrath

Walrath, D. (2014). Like water on stone. New York: Random House.

Focusing on three Armenian children and an eagle in Ottoman Empire, Like Water on Stone tells the story of a family as they enter and struggle to survive the Armenian genocide of 1915. Told in verse, we hear about Mama and Papa and their family of 6 children. They are Christians but Papa believes in unity with the Turks and Kurds. Anahid, the oldest daughter, is married to a muslim man and the two families are closely tied. Kevorg and Misak are young men.  The twins, Sosi and Shahen are just 14. Shahen goes to school to learn from their local priest and dreams of going to America with his uncle, while his sister Sosi stays at home and learns to weave with her mother. Mariam, the youngest is 5. Though they are the minority, the Armenians live peacefully with Kurds and Turks in their town. But in 1915, things change.        War has started in Europe. As the Ottomans rally their forces, soldiers are not just preparing for war, they are given orders to seek out Armenians. Danger for Armenians escalates quickly. Young men are taken from homes and shot. Some do their best to flee or hide. And then the massacres begin. When the town of Palu is attacked, Mama and Papa quickly wake Sosi, Shahen, and Mariam and send them away to Allepo. Their home is destroyed. Their parents slaughtered and the three siblings must make the perilous trip across mountains and the desert to get to Allepo and escape to America.  As the children make their trek, they guarded by an eagle who keeps them from starving to death and eventually the three make it to Allepo and sail across the sea to be with their uncle in New York.

 

In writing this book, Dana Walrath said that verse was the only way she could get this story to come out. And as I read, I agreed completely. The short, lyrical phrasing of this story presented such a sad, tragic period of history in a simply beautiful way. I couldn’t have imagined hearing it a different form. It is a hard story to hear and a hard concept for us to comprehend as humans. Writing in verse allowed the focus of the genocide to stay on the people and their emotions during this struggle. Walrath incorporates Adziv, the eagle, as a symbol of hope and strength of spirit that flows through the characters of her novel and continually allows the reader to hope right along with them. I recommend this book to upper high school students. Although the text is accessible for younger grades, the discussions generated from the content would fit best with older students. This is a terrific compliment to world history and culture, especially since this event in history is not one often discussed or taught. Being a novel in verse, Like Water on Stone would also be a great text for reluctant readers because it allows them to process the entire content of the story through easily accessible text.

 

Brown Girl Dreaming - Novel in verse; Torri

Torri

 Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming (1st ed.). Nancy Paulsen 

Books.http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014_ypl_woodson.html#.VyaNpPkrLIU 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/books/review/jacqueline-woodsons-brown-girl-dreaming.html?_r=0

http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/


This multi award winning book chronicles the early life of author Jacqueline Woodson. From as far back as Thomas Jefferson to seeing the strength of the Black Panther movement, each verse allows readers to engage in the feelings, beliefs and historical events that "Jack's" maternal and paternal families faced over time. With the use of such figurative language, Woodson makes the ups and own of her childhood one of memories to hold close. Though schooling was somewhat of challenge for Jacqueline at first her knack for  for story making lead her to be what she is today...an acclaimed writer.

Brown Girl Dreaming is geared towards readers in 5th grade and up. The book reminds me a lot of  The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. The Watson's and the "Gunner" children faced similar situations living in the south. Both sets of children dealt blazing hot summers, loving grandparents and faced the effects of discrimination. However, the Watsons were blessed with the guidance of both parents while the "Gunners" parents separated while Woodson was still toddler. With all that being said, I believe that this book in verse would be an excellent collaborative with historical fiction books like The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 or One Crazy Summer.

Echo, a review by Terrie

Review of story in verse - Echo by Terrie

Beginning in the “long ago and far away,” one harmonica becomes the tie through time between three characters who find their own magic through hope and persistence.  The story begins as a fantasy that includes the harmonica with magic sound, a young boy lost in the woods and three mysterious sisters who need the young boy and the harmonica to save them.  In Germany, during Hitler’s rise, the harmonica shows up again for Friedrich, then for Mike in the depression era U.S., and for Ivy, a young immigrant working on a Japanese owned California farm at the beginning of WWII.  Each young person fights what seems to be an unwinnable battle, and cliffhangers abound. The musical connection of each of these characters and the harmonica is its own magic.

Munoz has  wonderful characters in these three young people.  Her phrasing and descriptions of the main characters as well as their families are almost music in themselves.  The classification of this book as a fantasy seems to be a stretch, though.  The fantasy begins the book and ends it, but doesn’t exist at all for most of it. The stories each stop abruptly in a way that almost seem forced, resuming at the end in a “too neat” ending.  Having read the book, then listened to it in audio form, I cannot highly enough recommend the audio version.  The inclusion of the actual music into the story elevates it from simple prose to real poetry for the mind and ears. 

 

 

Ryan, P. M. (2015). Echo. New York: Scholastic Press.

 

 

 

Review of Mockingjay Part 1- by Terrie

Review of Mockingjay Part 1 by Terrie

 

The sequel to Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1 opens with Katniss recovering from her last battle, realizing Peeta has been captured and held in the Capitol. Katniss is introduced to Coin, the leader of the uprising, who asks her to be the face of the rebellion, the “Mockingjay.” Katniss refuses until Capitol attack planes find them, in the previously thought destroyed, District 13. When the planes obliterate a full hospital, Katniss re-discovers her courage and outrage. She wants Peeta and she wants to end Snow and the Capitol. Old friends support Katniss as she makes her first moves.

                The themes of journeys and self-actualization are prevalent in this entire series, but in Mockingjay part one, we see more emotion, more introspection and less battle scenes.  We see Katniss finding her strength physically, but more importantly, spiritually and mentally.  We also see serious challenges for her ahead in both of those areas.  Collins and her screenwriters have given us an excellent build up for part two. Recommended for ages 12-adult. 

 

 

 

 

Lawrence, F. (Director). (2014). Mockingjay Part 1 [Motion Picture].