A. Bibliography
Frost, Helen, Keesha's House, Frances Foster Books, 2003, ISBN # 0-374-34064-1
B. Plot Summary
Written in poetic form, this is a story about 6 troubled teens; Stephie who is pregnant, Jason, Stephie's boyfriend, Dontay who is in foster care because his parents are in prison, Carmen who is arrested for a DUI, Harris who is disowned by his parents for being gay, and Katie who is abused by her stepfather. All the characters are intertwined through leaving their homes and coming to this house that they consider to be safe, Keesha's House.
C. Critical analysis
The majority of the poems in this novel are sestinas in which six words are repeated in a particular order as the end words in each of the six 6-line stanzas and an envoi to conclude the poem. The way the story and characters developed, the reader wouldn't really pay attention to the form of the poem. The rhythm flowed smoothly and naturally.
The language in this novel was strong and powerful. This really seemed to stand out since I used the audio version along with the text. There were some lines that really pulls the reader into the story. For example, "and he twisted my arm--hard. I never feel safe/when he's around. I finally asked my mom to make a choice:/him or me. She went, Oh, Katie, he'll be fine. Then she knocked/on our wood table. I blew up. I stormed out of the room/and started thinking hard. In the first place,/I know he won't be fine. I didn't tell her what he tries to do". This also shows how strong the imagery is in this novel. The reader can connect with each character and "feel" their pain as they deal with some hard situations in a young teen's life.
This novel also provides very convincing emotions throughout the book. I couldn't put the book down. I didn't want to stop listening to the audio. I felt as though I was part of the group and they were my friends also. I found myself wanting to help them.
I think this is large part due to the fact that I used the CD version to listen to and each character was represented by a different voice. This made the characters seem more real because of the voices. The narrators read the poems like they really were saying the lines, like I had a front row seat into all their lives.
The CD version was very clear and able to follow along in the book very easily. They didn't have any sound effects, but I think this added power and emotion to the story. The CD also included the author's notes about the poetic verse used on the sestina's and sonnets and other books on audio recorded by Recorded Books.
I would highly recommend this book to all young adults. This is a MUST read (listen to).
D. Awards/Review Excerpt
Michael L. Pritnz Award 2004
White Raven's Award 2004
Best Books for Young Adults 2004
Book Review:
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, March 1, 2003) "In a long note, Frost talks about the poetic forms she has used, the sestina and the sonnet. But most readers will be less interested in that framework than in the characters, drawn with aching realism, who speak poetry in ordinary words and make connections."
CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2004) "In the final section of the novel, Frost wraps up the seven teens' stories with a crown of sonnets-'seven Italian sonnets in which the last line of one sonnet is the first line of the next.' It's a perfect choice to underscore how lives that are connected weave a web of hope."
E. Connections
This would be a great book to have students read aloud in class. I can see students taking on the roles of each character, almost like a play, reading aloud as their poem is featured. This would help the students to make more of a connection with the character and author.
This would also be a great option for across curriculum with a health teacher reading aloud since it deals with issues such as pregnancy, both physical and chemical abuse, and sexuality.
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