Every once and awhile I am required to write for my own blog. 

I am going to take the opportunity to talk about an area of YA Literature that I absolutely love. I love YA novels that are immersed in music.  It doesn't seem to matter if it is kids in a band, kids using music to connect, or a way of making social commentary. Even within this subgenre there are categories  that seems to be unique -- books about DJs, boys in the band, kids learning to play, classical music, popular music, books that become movies, books that are autobiographical, books that use music as a sound track, and who knows how many variations there might be.  I like them all. Yet there are five that come to mind every time I have this conversation with someone about this fabulous subgenre. 

I have admired these books for a long time. With four of these books I have meet and chatted with the authors about their book and the impact they have had on my reading life. They provide pure enjoyment. They hold up when I read them a second time. 

A couple of weeks ago I finally caught up with the author of the fifth book, This Song Will Save Your Life, Leila Sales. 

Below, I will briefly discuss the five books and, for the grand finale, I will discuss the fifth book and link to a conversation with Liela Sales who is featured in Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesay in Conversation on Aug. 29, 2024.

​Enjoy.

Bonus! Here is a slide show with these five books and several more.

I am sure some of you could add several other books to the list, Send me a note and let me know.

Until next week.

I find myself thinking a great deal about the power of the verse novel as the beginning of the school year comes around.  Marilyn Nelson is one of those verse novel authors who provide powerful texts for students and teachers as they think about what poetry can do.  I can appreciate the form of the sonnet but I can’t imagine trying to tell a story with it. When I teach it, my students sometimes struggle with it.  Using one of Marilyn Nelson’s verse novels provides sonnets that use more familiar language but they still pack a powerful narrative and poetic punch.  The poetic form and its rigid structure is very powerful as a tool for writers.  Marilyn Nelson uses the sonnet to provide insight and critique into particular moments in history.

​The rigid poetic forms in these novels provide a framework for the storytelling—a tool to highlight both the structure of the poem itself and the content of the poem.  Many of these poetic forms are the ones studied in school with tightly measured rhyme schemes and syllable counts. These forms may feel distant and unknowable to the adolescent reader who is learning both the form and unfamiliar language at the same time. Sonnets, for example, are more traditionally associated with Shakespeare than with young adult literature.  Marilyn Nelson, author of several YA novels in verse, uses the form of the sonnet to tell the story of Emmett Till. These authors disrupt the traditional expectations of the poetic forms in order to provide social commentary and emotional connection. 

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter.  Nelson uses a Petrarchan rhyme scheme in the sonnets in this novel; this rhyme scheme is typically ABBA ABBA for the octet and CDCDCD or CDECDE for the sestet.  The rigid number of lines as well as the relatively rigid rhyme scheme creates a challenge for both the writer and the reader.  Increasing the challenge for this particular novel in verse is the additional structure of the heroic crown.  The heroic crown of sonnets is a sequence of fifteen sonnets.  The last line of one sonnet becomes the first line of the next sonnet. The final sonnet is comprised of the first lines of the previous fourteen sonnets.  

The sonnets are formal in their structure, but the language is less so.  In Sonnet III, the speaker of the poem is the tree who shares how it has lived for hundreds of years and witnessed both life and death as part of the natural cycle of the world.  The tree understood “two hundred years of deaths” but not the unnatural and brutal death of Emmett Till.  The tree, personified here, says his name “still catches in the throat.”  The language is rich in description but not so formal that adolescent readers get lost in the words.  The idea of a “shortened childhood” connects to adolescents and reminds them that Emmett was their age.  The “jackal laughter” highlights the animal-like behavior of the men chasing the young boy. The contrast between “running boy” and “five men” illustrates the violence of Emmett’s death. The formal structure of the sonnet emphasizes the lawlessness of the men’s behavior.  The tree serves as witness to the natural cycle of life and feels it is has been scarred by the unnatural death of the young boy.

III
Pierced by the screams of a shortened childhood,
my heartwood has been scarred for fifty years
by what I heard, with hundreds of green ears.
That jackal laughter. Two hundred years I stood
listening to small struggles to find food,
to the songs of creature life, which disappears
and comes again, to the music of the spheres.
Two hundred years of deaths I understood.
Then slaughter axed one quiet summer night,
shivering the deep silence of the stars.
A running boy, five men in close pursuit.
One dark, five pale faces in the moonlight.
Noise, silence, back-slaps. One match, five cigars.
Emmett Till’s name still catches in the throat (n.p.).
 
IV
Emmett Till’s name still catches in my throat,
like syllables waylaid in a stutterer’s mouth.
A fourteen-year-old stutterer, in the South
to visit relatives and to be taught
the family’s ways. His mother had finally bought
that White Sox cap; she’d made him swear an oath
to be careful around white folks. She’s told him the truth
of many a Mississippi anecdote:
Some white folks have blind souls. In his suitcase
she’d packed dungarees, T-shirts, underwear,
and comic books. She’d given him a note
for the conductor, waved to his chubby face,
wondered if he’d remember to brush his hair.
Her only child. A body left to bloat (n.p.).
 
V
Your only child, a body thrown to bloat,
mother of sorrows, of justice denied.
Surely you must have thought of suicide,
seeing his gray flesh, chains around his throat.
Surely you didn’t know you would devote
the rest of your changed life to dignified
public remembrance of how Emmett died,
innocence slaughtered by the hands of hate.
If sudden loving light proclaimed you blest
would you bow your head in humility,
your healed heart overflow with gratitude?
Would you say yes, like the mother of Christ?
Or would you say no to your destiny,
mother of a boy martyr, if you could (n.p.)?

​The last and first lines serve as both a final thought and an opening of the idea that there is not an end.  The line “Her only child. A body left to bloat” ends Sonnet IV and opens Sonnet V. In Sonnet IV, the mother’s son becomes just a body to those who killed Emmett leaving him as a “body left to bloat.” For the people who killed him, his death is the end of the story. This is not so for his mother, and this develops in Sonnet V. Sonnet V repeats the last line of Sonnet IV and shifts to commiserating with Emmett’s mother as she continues to deal with her grief and loss. She is called the “mother of sorrows, of justice denied.” Emmett’s mother’s pain is compared to that of Mary, the mother of Christ.  The tree sees that both sons were martyred and that this pain is a shared pain. The sonnets here provide both the cycle of life and change and the cycle of grief and sacrifice.

The final sonnet in this heroic crown does more than just repeat the lines from the previous sonnets. It is also an acrostic that spells out “RIP EMMETT TILL” with the first letters of each line. Nelson uses the structure of the sonnets to provide a framework for the critique of what happened to Emmett Till.  The structure, though powerful, fades to the background as the content of the poems surges forward.  She opens and closes the crown cycle with the lines “Rosemary for remembrance” as both a nod to Shakespeare and also as a notice to society—the murder of Emmett Till needs to be remembered, not as a shrine to a racist past but as a current call to action. 

Nelson explains that for her, “the highpoint of the requiem is “Not My Bones.” Which [she] imagined Fortune singing in his own voice” (Nelson, 2003, p. 9).  Just as many YA novels in verse focus on providing a voice for those who are often overlooked, this novel interrupts the traditional funeral mass to provide Fortune an opportunity to speak.  He says, “I was not this body,/I was not these bones” (p. 25) meaning that his body was just a “temporary home” for him.  He speaks out against slavery saying, “You can own a man’s body,/ but you can’t own his mind.”  This interruption of the more formal structure becomes a moment of freedom for Fortune; he is not owned and he can speak out.  His voice, and the power of the interruption, becomes a way of saying there is more to life that the physical body and its existence.  Fortune says his soul is free and his bones, though left to tell his story, are not his home.  The structures of the poems in this text provide both a moment of connection and the recognition of freedom by disrupting a traditional structure. 

Both of these novels in verse challenge readers to see beyond the form to the message of the text. The messages, built in traditional poetic forms, highlight the power of history (structures) and the ways in which that history should be disrupted.  Whether it is using the very formal crown cycle to tell the story of a young man brutally murdered or the formal requiem to tell the story of a man who was a slave during his life, these forms and the way that they are used to connect the past and the present provide adolescent readers insight into historically traumatic moments. 

​This past school year, my students and I began a journey to rectify the underrepresentation of Deaf culture in our school library. We read over 20 novels and narrowed them down to nine with honorable mentions. Before I start, I am compelled to mention that each of these stories is just one person’s reflections on d/Deaf culture as there is not ONE way to represent a multitude of people. The National Association of the Deaf reminds us that deaf communities are:  

For the purpose of clarity, I will use the names as described by the authors. 

These novels offer duel purposes: for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals, they provide much needed mirrors and gateways into our classrooms and provide windows into the culture for the rest of us as well as providing space to reflect on our own perceptions and misconceptions of Deaf culture. Hopefully, they will inspire a dialogue on how to become better allies or advocates. 

Another novel based upon real events, is Show Me A Sign by Ann Claire LeZotte and its follow-up novels Set Me Free and Sail Me Away Home. Set at the turn of the 19th Century, heroine Mary Lambert is a direct descendant from the first Deaf family who arrived on the Mayflower. They settled in Martha’s Vineyard and created Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language, a language used by both Deaf and hearing individuals all over the island. All three books incorporate intriguing historical facts on Deaf culture and their different languages. They conclude with historical information on various topics such as the first deaf schools, Laurent Clerc, The Wampanoag Tribe,and The Indian Child Welfare Act. Throughout the novels, Mary struggles with the confines of female gender roles as well as what happens when one is “othered” for the very essence of themselves. Throughout the three novels, Mary addresses these prejudices and triumphs as she defies the judgements and imposed limitations projected upon her.

​Give Me A Sign and On The Bright Side, written by Anna Sortino, feature characters learning how to navigate their final years at home. They broach the absurdity of insisting a d/Deaf individual use only one languge instead of being bilingual, leave space to select the language which enhances communication best. Give Me A Sign is an homage to the summer camp experience, first romances, and fighting for causes. This novel delicately addresses the how perceptions of well-intentioned individuals can “other”. In On The Bright Side, Ellie’s Deaf school closes and she returns to the isolation of her hometown. Throughout the book, she journeys outside of her comfort zone to construct a new community that leads to her falling in love, enrolling in college, and moving into her first apartment. 

Honorable Mentions:

• 2023 Alex Award winner True Biz (my favorite)
• Five Flavors of Dumb
• A Quiet Kind of Thunder
• “The Isolation of Being Deaf In Prison” in Disability Visilibity (Adapted for Young Adults): 17 First-Person Stories For Today

There are multitudes of reasons to read these novels in your classes and, at a time where so many educators are thinking about resiliency, each of these protagonists teaches a master class in resiliency, determination, and empathy. We also can see ourselves in the characters, whether in the teacher who is learning the best practices to accommodate students, in the feelings of being an outcast, or in the delight we experience when we are truly accepted for who we are and who we might become. These books shed light on one of the many cultures in our classrooms and represent voices that need to be heard.
 
National Association of the Deaf. (2024). Community and Culture- Frequently Asked Questions. National Association of the Deaf. https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-frequently-asked-questions/

YA verse novelists are uniquely skilled at using various poetic forms to tell stories in ways that grab readers’ attention.  The emotionality that poetry allows is used to great effect in these novels.  The new school year is here and I find myself focusing on what texts I will use in which classes to encourage students to write.  I also find myself working with teachers as they are trying to get students in their classes to see poetry differently.  One student commented, “I know that books are being banned for being about people like me.  That’s dangerous.”  That comment is echoing in my head as I look at October Mourning—a powerful YA verse novel about the death of Matthew Shepard. This is a book that is banned in many areas but its message is so important. Messages of hate lead to dangerous actions.  

The only good fag is a fag that’s dead
He asked for it, you got that right
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
 
A boy who takes a boy to bed?
Where I come from that’s not polite
The only good fag is a fag that’s dead
 
A man and a woman, the Good Lord said
As sure as Eve took the first bite
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
 
I hear upon his knees he pled
Fairies don’t know how to fight
The only good fag is a fag that’s dead
 
Beneath the Hunter’s Moon he bled
That must have been a pretty sight
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
 
C’mon, kids, it’s time for bed
Say your prayers, kiss Dad goodnight
The only good fag is a fag that’s dead
The fires of Hell burn hot and red (p. 66)

The repetition of these lines creates a rhythm that seems almost hypnotic.  The lines increase in power and horror as they are repeated.  The contrasts between the seemingly simple good night ritual of a father putting his children to bed and the devastating effect of what has become the bedtime story for those children provides insight to how these men could justify their murder of a young, gay man.  The men, raised on steady diets of hatred and hell, would not see how killing someone who is gay could be wrong.  

The companion villanelle, “An Angel,” provides an alternative perspective explaining angels need not fear evil.  The poem states that we should “love thy neighbor, as it’s said/ short of that, give them their space/ Lift your wings above your head.” The commandment stresses love and nonjudgment.  The contrasting villanelles provide alternative ways to be in the world—filled with hate and murder or filled with love and grace.  The repetition in both poems ensures that the messages illustrate what will happen when people follow those commandments. 

In addition to villanelles, Newman also uses poetic structures such as pantoums and haiku.  Pantoums, like villanelles, use the repetition of lines to help create meaning.  The pantoum consists of  four-line stanzas.  The second and fourth line of one stanza become the first and third line of the next stanza. 

Haiku are three-line verses that have a rigid syllable count—the first and third lines have 5 syllables and the second line contains seven syllables.  “The Fence (that night)” uses the repetition of the lines to show how an inanimate object had more humanity than the men who killed Matthew.  The second line of the first stanza, “He was as heavy as a broken heart” becomes the first line of the second stanza. The repeating of the lines becomes like a heartbeat in the poem.  The layering of words—heart/beating, dead/breathing, cradle/cradled—emphasizes Matthew’s humanity and his life and highlights how little humanity the men who attacked him showed. 

​To them, Matthew was not worthy of life; to the fence, Matthew deserved to be held, cradled by someone who loved him.   

​I held him all night long
He was heavy as a broken heart
Tears fell from his unblinking eyes
He was dead weight yet he kept breathing
 
He was heavy as a broken heart
His own heart wouldn’t stop beating
He was dead weight yet he kept breathing
His face streaked with moonlight and blood
 
His own heart wouldn’t stop beating
The cold wind wouldn’t stop blowing
His face streaked with moonlight and blood
I tightened my grip and held on
 
The cold wind wouldn’t stop blowing
We were out on the prairie alone
I tightened my grip and held on
I saw what was done to this child
 
We were out on the prairie alone
Their truck was the last thing he saw
I saw what was done to this child
I cradled him just like a mother
 
Their truck was the last thing he saw
Tears fell from his unblinking eyes
I cradled him just like a mother
I held him all night long (p. 16)

The horror of Matthew’s murder and the callous disposal of his body is developed in the layering and repetition of the lines in this poem.  Matthew’s slow death from his beating is contrasted with the openness of the prairie and the truck driving away.  Nature and the fence witness the horror of Matthew’s death while his murderers drive away.