Laura's Bookshelf: THE GIRL WHO FELL

Happy Poetry Friday. I've got a terrific YA novel and poem pairing to share with you this week.

Katya at Write. Sketch Repeat. is hosting
this week's Poetry Friday link up.

One of the best parts about being a debut novelist has been connecting with other children's authors in the class of 2016.

I loved THE GIRL WHO FELL by S.M. Parker. It’s contemporary YA about Zephyr, a star field hockey player who has her life together and her college plans in place, until she meets a boy. At first, it’s all racing heart beats and cute kissing at the playground after dark, but over time Alec goes from needy, to possessive and manipulative, to full on abusive stalker.

I have to admit that this book was difficult to read because of my own history. When I was in high school, an ex-boyfriend stalked me for several months. You can read about it here (scroll down to the UPDATE). 

I had to take it slow – a chapter or a few pages at a time. There were many times when I wrote Zephyr a note in the book: “No, Zee!” and “Wake up, Zephyr!” I was so invested in her character and in Zephyr finding her way back to herself.

Pre-order from your local indie bookstore
via Indiebound.

This contemporary YA launches on March 1, 2016. Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

His obsession.

Her fall.

In this dark kissing book, high school senior Zephyr Doyle is swept off her feet—and into an intense relationship—by the new boy in school.

Zephyr is focused. Focused on leading her team to the field hockey state championship and leaving her small town for her dream school, Boston College.

But love has a way of changing things.

Enter the new boy in school: the hockey team’s starting goaltender, Alec. He’s cute, charming, and most important, Alec doesn’t judge Zephyr. He understands her fears and insecurities—he even shares them. Soon, their relationship becomes something bigger than Zephyr, something she can’t control, something she doesn’t want to control.

Zephyr swears it must be love. Because love is powerful, and overwhelming, and…terrifying?

But love shouldn’t make you abandon your dreams, or push your friends away. And love shouldn’t make you feel guilty—or worse, ashamed.

So when Zephyr finally begins to see Alec for who he really is, she knows it’s time to take back control of her life.

If she waits any longer, it may be too late.

THE GIRL WHO FELL is appropriate for high schoolers and up.

Who will like it?

• ·         Teens who like edgy romance.
• ·         Athletes and kids who struggle to balance social life with commitments.
• ·         Readers who love first person narrators.

What will readers learn about?

• ·         Abuse is complicated. A victim can feel attracted to, and have a healthy sex life with, an abuser.
• ·         Indicators that someone has the potential to be abusive or controlling, e.g. forbidding you to spend time with other friends and family.
• ·         Especially for teens, the importance of putting your own needs first, before those of your romantic partner.

The poem I'm pairing with THE GIRL WHO FELL was published in Little Patuxent Review (the literary journal for which I edit poetry) earlier this year. It’s by Maryland poet and educator Rachel Eisler.

If I were Zephyr’s teacher, this is the poem I would hand to her, to remind her how strong she is as an athlete and as a young woman.

I shared the poem with Shannon Parker, who said, “I love how this turns objectification on its head and makes women have all the power.”

It’s Lovely to Watch Young Women

By Rachel Eisler

It’s lovely to watch young women

elbow opponents as they strive

in each others’ shining faces to make the shot.

They pound down the boards,

dribbling and swiveling, seek allies,

in the frantic five.

It’s lovely to watch young women,

so passionate and cool,

as the fouls squeak silent, the lines fade

into screens, fake-outs, and passes

to move and seize the ball.

Their pure ferocity

the urge to wrest

something from someone

because you want it more

right then and you

better best them.

Someday, it may get old or tame

headlong lose or wild win,

both such cool water to a woman

parched by politeness,

hungry for this fight.

Rachel Eisler teaches Upper School English at Garrison Forest School, working closely with colleagues in Grades Six through Twelve. She received her B.A. in English from Yale College and her M.A. in Poetry from The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.  Before joining the GFS faculty in 2010, she taught at The National Cathedral School, The Bryn Mawr School, The Writing Seminars, and The University of Baltimore. Her poems have been featured on WYPR’s The Signal, and have appeared in The Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, and The Urbanite.  Her first chapbook of poems was published in fall 2009. 

Thanks to Shannon and Rachel for their contributions to this post.

REMINDER to Poetry Friday bloggers: 

I still have a few spaces left for THE LAST FIFTH GRADE book vine. If you’d like a chance to meet Ms. Hill’s fifth grade poets before they debut, read more about it here or sign up now! I’m sending the Advanced Reader’s Copy out on Poetry Friday tour soon.

Poetry Friday: Writing about Difficult Subjects

What is the job of a poet? Let's look at the darker side of this issue for this week's Poetry Friday post.

Many years ago, I participated in a group reading event with poet Lucille Clifton. At the time, the self-help book and movie The Secret was in its heyday. I'm over-simplifying when I say that The Secret advises reader/viewers not to see the things they don't want to "attract" to themselves.

If you want to be thin, the film says, don't focus on people who are overweight or think too much about how rich foods make you fat. If the evening news makes you worry about violence, choose not to watch it, or you might be attracting that violence into your own life.

"The Law of Attraction" says thinking acts like a magnet.
Negative thoughts attract negativity into our lives.
Positive thoughts bring us good things.

Clifton addressed this issue at the reading. She said that poets should not look away from what's uncomfortable or upsetting. It is our job, she advised, to bear witness to life and events that are difficult. If we don't talk about them, who will? In doing so, we poets set the stage for change -- or, at least, for conversation.

Poet Jacqueline Jules (Zapato Power) recently contacted me. I'll explain the connection in a second.

Jacqueline is an accomplished children's author. You'll find her list of over a dozen books at her website. But Jacqueline also writes poetry for adults. She had a poem published at the online literary journal rkvry quarterly. The theme of the current issue is sexuality. Jacqueline's poem addresses the difficult subject of childhood sexual abuse.

Jacqueline invited me to interview her regarding that poem. Such interviews are a special feature at rkvry. I like the way these discussions between poet and guest interviewer provide additional insights into the poem and continues the conversation between poet and reader. You can check out my conversation with Jacqueline at rkvry.

Her poem is titled "The Stick in the Big Boy's Hand."

The Stick in the Big Boy's Hand
by Jacqueline Jules

I saw my little sister go next door
with the neighbor boy.
White sandals on her small feet,
short pink socks with frilly lace cuffs,
and blue flowered shorts
matching a cotton button-down shirt.
Mama always dressed us nice, even to play outside
on a slick June morning, two days into summer vacation.

Wet blades squeaked beneath my shoes
as I followed up the hill. Reaching the crest,
I thought, at first, she’d slipped,
seeing her prone in the dew,
her cheek pressed into the long grass

Read the rest of the poem at rkvry quarterly.

And here is a poem dealing with childhood sexual abuse is by Lucille Clifton.

What Did She Know, When Did She Know It

by Lucille Clifton

in the evenings
what it was the soft tap tap
into the room the cold curve
of the sheet arced off
the fingers sliding in
and the hard clench against the wall
before and after
all the cold air cold edges
why the little girl never smiled

The poem is unpublished online. You can read the entire poem in Clifton's book, The Terrible Stories.

1996 National Book Award nominee

Oprah Winfrey's website has an excellent list of resources for victims of sexual abuse, including children.

Questions for you. readers: What is the darkest or most personal subject you have felt brave enough to tackle in a poem? What do you think makes these two poems work, despite the troubling subject matter?

This week's Poetry Friday blog roll is at Semicolon. See you over there for more great poetry links.