by Edith Pattou
Visit Edith:
Amazon
Website
Goodreads
Twitter @epattou
Just released: August 19, 2014
Publisher: Skyscape
Genre: Poetry, YA
Hardback: 392 pages
Rating: 5
On a hot summer night in a midwestern town, a high school teenage prank goes horrifically awry. Alcohol, guns, and a dare. Within minutes, as events collide, innocents becomes victims—with tragic outcomes altering lives forever, a grisly and unfortunate scenario all too familiar from current real-life headlines. But victims can also become survivors, and as we come to know each character through his/her own distinctive voice and their interactions with one another, we see how, despite pain and guilt, they can reach out to one another, find a new equilibrium, and survive.
Told through multiple points of view in naturalistic free verse and stream of consciousness, this is an unforgettable, haunting tale.
My two-bits:
Being written as poetry (not the rhyming kind), this reading experience had a staccato rhythm that worked really well. Certain word groupings were effective in creating a fast or slow pace.
I loved how each chapter/character had their own style of writing and visual presentation which made them distinct. The personalities and essence of each character shone through despite minimal words and descriptions.
Edith Pattou has found acclaim as a writer in middle-grade fantasy with such award-winning books as East, which received starred reviews in Booklist and School Library Journal; was selected as a Top Ten Book for YA, an American Library Association Notable Book, a School Library Journal Top Ten YA Book, one of the 100 Best of the Best YA Books for the 21st Century by the Young Adult Library Services Association; and was nominated for numerous state awards. It’s a nominee for NPR’s all-time Best YA Novels list.
* added to my Poetry challenge
* review copy courtesy of Fall Reading Challenge 2014. @booksparks #FRC2014
