Recently in what can only be described as beautiful serendipity I discovered two coming of age novels in verse featuring spunky girls overcoming obstacles, both external and internal, with determination and resilience.
Quinn, protagonist of Caroline Brooks Dubois' Ode to a Nobody, lives through a tornado. But even before it her life was stormy. Her parents fought a lot. Often her father slept at his mother's house. Her older brother Forrest, the perfect sibling she always feels compared to, had just gone off to start college. She felt tenuous in her best friends triangle. And when instructed to make a list of the things she's good at she drew a total blank.
The tornado slams through Quinn's town during a terrifying stormy night in that hop scotch way of all tornadoes. Some houses are skipped; some are totalled, and some, like Quinn's, are left potentially habitable, but in need of a lot of work. While her father stays on to do the work she and her mother must move into the basement apartment in the run down house of a grouchy seeming man and his mean looking dog. Her best friends, Jack and Jade, whose homes were unscathed, are treating the situation as a big joke and drawing further and further away from her.
But good things are also happening. As Jack and Jade become people she doesn't really want time with Quinn makes new friends. Finding a neighbor's cat motivates her to volunteer in the community clean up. Seeing her neighborhood transformed gets her in touch with a special talent and gives her a way to create a unique gift of hope for those around her.
The storm in Andrea Beatriz Arango's Iveliz Explains It All is no less real. It rages in her head instead of outdoors.
Iveliz is sure that seventh grade will be different from the previous two terrible years following her father's death, a death she feels responsible for. She's made lists and set goals. She needs nobody else's help. She's ready to move on already.
Except things don't work according to her plans. Iveliz can't keep up with school work. When classmates push her buttons she gets in trouble for fighting. Her one friend seems to be becoming ambivalent about his role in her life.
Iveliz's grandmother has moved to her home from Puerto Rico, unable to live on her own due to advancing Alzheimers. She has good days and bad days. That alone would be hard for a preteen to cope with. But Iveliz has been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety. Her grandmother doesn't think she should be taking the meds she needs.
They might not be enough. Iveliz struggles to get by from day to day and to fool people into thinking she's fine. They don't seem to listen to her anyway.
Iveliz Explains It All skillfully portrays a girl overwhelmed by life and inwardly terrified that things won't get better. It can help kids who cope with similar diagnoses feel seen and represented and neurotypical peers become more understanding.
This is Arango's debut novel. Hers is a voice we need to hear a lot more of.
On a purrrsonal note, tomorrow I go back to school from what has been a purrrfect March break, an ideal balance of work and play. I got ahead on my homework and did some internship stuff and worked on my own writing. I baked a pie. I visited the Peeps holy grail which is Dollar Tree in Orono. I finally went to Portland to visit Katie and Adam. I got in a lot of candy fueled cat assisted reading. Now I'm refreshed and ready for the final stretch of the academic year. (Jules)
All that play and snuggling! Vacas are the best! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the students who are traveling back from home with best wishes for safe journeys!
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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