Sunday, August 17, 2008

Loose Threads by Lorie Ann Grover

Sunday, March 30, 2008

From the inside cover:
"Seventh grader Kay Garber's happy home is made up of four generations of women: Great Gran Eula; Grandma Margie; Kay's mother, Karine; and Kay. But on the evening Grandma Margie tells her family she has lump in her breast, Kay's world is changed forever.
Struggling with issues of popularity in junior high school, trying to understand her too-perfect mother, dealing with her feelings about friends, and coming to terms with Grandma Margie's cancer diagnosis and illness, Kay is awhirl with questions that have no easy answers."
I was trying to find more room on my bookshelf today and thought I would mooch some that I probably would never read. When I came across this one, I opened it up just to glance through it. The story is told completely in poems and I read it in one afternoon. The poetry beautifully conveys the emotions that are raging through Kay's mind as she deals with sickness and loss as well as the usual young teenage problems. Here are some of the passages I marked:
*****
Rules in Junior High
"You are not allowed
to be going out,"
says Mom.
"To be dating,"
says Grandma Margie.
"To be courting,"
says Gran Eula.
Courting?
What's that?
All I said was
David has
a really nice smile.
And now
no one
is smiling.
*****
Sweetness
It's like my family
is the slice of key lime pie
Gran Eula's stopped eating.
She's the crust.
Mom is the sour, tangy lime filling.
I'm the lime circle slice
splat on top,
and Grandma Margie is the sugar.
The very sweetness that makes us
delicious.
*****
Best
No more pain for her.
No more tears for her.
No more death
ahead of her.
We are touching.
We are saying
we love each other.
This is all I can see
about it being best.
Maybe someday
I'll figure out more.
But for now
I think I've been given
the grace of faith.
*****

4 comments:
Booklogged said...
What an interesting format. You say you're going to mooch this?
4/01/2008 9:58 PM
Cassie said...
It is an interesting format but I wonder if I would get bored with it after a while.
4/02/2008 8:41 AM
Framed said...
It's too short to get boring.
4/02/2008 8:45 PM

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