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.