1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Creech, Sharon. 2004. HEARTBEAT. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books. ISBN 9780060540234
2. BOOK REVIEW
The story in this poignant novel revolves around a twelve-year-old girl named Annie, as she deals with the changes happening in the life of her family. Each poem in this book is titled like a chapter. Each poem is written as Annie's thoughts in the first person point of view, as Annie relates the happenings in her life to the reader. Annie lives with her parents and grandfather, who is very ill and is suffering from memory loss, most likely Alzheimer's Disease. Annie is experiencing big changes in her life. She finds out that her mother is pregnant with a new life growing inside her, just as Annie's grandfather is slipping away a little more each day. Annie's thoughts on this contrast are illustrated in the poem titled, "Rooms", where "...it seems as if he is evaporating or shrinking disappearing-little pieces vanishing each day while the alien baby grows bigger and bigger multiplying cells...". Annie's favorite way to escape everything around her is to run barefoot for miles. She is often joined by her closest friend, Max, a thirteen-year-old boy, who has dreams of escaping the town to find something better in life.
This novel is filled with figurative language and sensory images. Onomatopoeia is used to describe such things as Annie's heartbeat as she runs ("thump thump"), autumn leaves as Annie runs through them barefoot ("crunch crunch"), and the heartbeat of Annie's unborn baby brother ("a-whoosh, a-whoosh). Symbolism is found throughout this book, which begins as Annie's art teacher gives her class an assignment to choose one apple and draw that same apple every day for one hundred days. Annie begins to see her apple as she sees her grandfather, as something shrinking and deteriorating a little more with each passing day.
This novel is sure to evoke a strong personal response in the reader. The reader will feel Annie's sense of relief as she finds out her mother "...does not have a deadly disease/instead she has a baby growing inside her...". The reader will be able to relate to Annie's sense of confusion as she looks through her grandfather's photo album wondering how he went from "...that boy/in that smooth skin/those skinny legs/that dark hair..." to the sickly old man sitting in the room with her. The reader will feel Annie's sense of sadness and loss as she describes being "infinitely, infinitely, infinitely sad that my grandpa does not have a whole long life ahead of him."
There are moments of humor in this novel as Annie learns how to use footnotes in her English class and proceeds to use them to note things in an amusing way throughout the rest of the story. An example of this is in Annie's thoughts about the girls' track coach, who wants to recruit her to the track team. Annie wants no part of it, preferring to run just for the joy of running free. The track coach is relentless in her pursuit of Annie. Annie's thoughts on the subject (after refusing her time and time again), complete with footnotes are illustrated in the poem titled "Shoeless." "I do so want to punch her (14)." The number 14 denotes a footnote. At the bottom of the page is the number 14 and the words "very very very much" as the footnote, explaining just how much Annie would like to punch the track coach. Humor is also found again through Annie's English class as her teacher instructs her class on how to use a thesaurus in order to help them to to build their vocabularies. Once again Annie's thoughts turn to the track coach as she "...detected a quantity of synonyms for angry-now when I run into the girl's track coach/I can say that she makes me/aggravated/annoyed/antagonized/bitter/displeased/
enraged/exasperated/furious...". The reader will also be amused as Annie's grandfather finds and takes a bite out of her homework (her apple), which Annie had to draw from then on with a bite taken out of it.
Creech writes in a way that will appeal to young readers. They will be able to identify with Annie's reaction to news of a new baby, the fear of losing a loved one, and the sudden shyness she begins to feel with Max, who she'd known all her life. The characters are believable and the story will touch the emotions of the reader. This novel is not for younger children. It is most appropriate for students who are twelve years old or older.
3. SELECTED POEM
The poem I selected from this novel is the last poem titled "One Hundred Apples." I chose this poem because it is both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. It depicts the symbolism found throughout the novel, which compares Annie's apple to her grandfather, as both slowly wither away. This novel could be used in a sixth grade class or older to teach students or talk to students about the process of growing older. It could be used to help those students who have a family member who is ill or dying. The book could be read aloud to the class. After reading, students could take turns discussing how the book made them feel and relate those feelings to their real life experiences. This could be a way to help heal those students who have lost a loved one or are going through a difficult time in their lives.
ONE HUNDRED APPLES
Grandpa and baby Joey and I
are looking through my apple folder.
Grandpa points out his favorites
as Joey gazes wisely
as if he understands
what he is seeing.
Grandpa reaches the ninety-ninth apple:
a slim core
eaten away
a narrow indented column'
with a dignified but bent stem
and pale flesh
browning the edges.
As Grandpa turns the page
to the one hundredth apple
I hear a small intake of breath.
He takes the baby's finger
and together they trace
the drawing:
a small shiny brown seed
tear shaped
elegant
both old and new
silent
and
full
of
secrets.
Creech, Sharon. 2004. HEARTBEAT. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books. ISBN 9780060540234
2. BOOK REVIEW
The story in this poignant novel revolves around a twelve-year-old girl named Annie, as she deals with the changes happening in the life of her family. Each poem in this book is titled like a chapter. Each poem is written as Annie's thoughts in the first person point of view, as Annie relates the happenings in her life to the reader. Annie lives with her parents and grandfather, who is very ill and is suffering from memory loss, most likely Alzheimer's Disease. Annie is experiencing big changes in her life. She finds out that her mother is pregnant with a new life growing inside her, just as Annie's grandfather is slipping away a little more each day. Annie's thoughts on this contrast are illustrated in the poem titled, "Rooms", where "...it seems as if he is evaporating or shrinking disappearing-little pieces vanishing each day while the alien baby grows bigger and bigger multiplying cells...". Annie's favorite way to escape everything around her is to run barefoot for miles. She is often joined by her closest friend, Max, a thirteen-year-old boy, who has dreams of escaping the town to find something better in life.
This novel is filled with figurative language and sensory images. Onomatopoeia is used to describe such things as Annie's heartbeat as she runs ("thump thump"), autumn leaves as Annie runs through them barefoot ("crunch crunch"), and the heartbeat of Annie's unborn baby brother ("a-whoosh, a-whoosh). Symbolism is found throughout this book, which begins as Annie's art teacher gives her class an assignment to choose one apple and draw that same apple every day for one hundred days. Annie begins to see her apple as she sees her grandfather, as something shrinking and deteriorating a little more with each passing day.
This novel is sure to evoke a strong personal response in the reader. The reader will feel Annie's sense of relief as she finds out her mother "...does not have a deadly disease/instead she has a baby growing inside her...". The reader will be able to relate to Annie's sense of confusion as she looks through her grandfather's photo album wondering how he went from "...that boy/in that smooth skin/those skinny legs/that dark hair..." to the sickly old man sitting in the room with her. The reader will feel Annie's sense of sadness and loss as she describes being "infinitely, infinitely, infinitely sad that my grandpa does not have a whole long life ahead of him."
There are moments of humor in this novel as Annie learns how to use footnotes in her English class and proceeds to use them to note things in an amusing way throughout the rest of the story. An example of this is in Annie's thoughts about the girls' track coach, who wants to recruit her to the track team. Annie wants no part of it, preferring to run just for the joy of running free. The track coach is relentless in her pursuit of Annie. Annie's thoughts on the subject (after refusing her time and time again), complete with footnotes are illustrated in the poem titled "Shoeless." "I do so want to punch her (14)." The number 14 denotes a footnote. At the bottom of the page is the number 14 and the words "very very very much" as the footnote, explaining just how much Annie would like to punch the track coach. Humor is also found again through Annie's English class as her teacher instructs her class on how to use a thesaurus in order to help them to to build their vocabularies. Once again Annie's thoughts turn to the track coach as she "...detected a quantity of synonyms for angry-now when I run into the girl's track coach/I can say that she makes me/aggravated/annoyed/antagonized/bitter/displeased/
enraged/exasperated/furious...". The reader will also be amused as Annie's grandfather finds and takes a bite out of her homework (her apple), which Annie had to draw from then on with a bite taken out of it.
Creech writes in a way that will appeal to young readers. They will be able to identify with Annie's reaction to news of a new baby, the fear of losing a loved one, and the sudden shyness she begins to feel with Max, who she'd known all her life. The characters are believable and the story will touch the emotions of the reader. This novel is not for younger children. It is most appropriate for students who are twelve years old or older.
3. SELECTED POEM
The poem I selected from this novel is the last poem titled "One Hundred Apples." I chose this poem because it is both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. It depicts the symbolism found throughout the novel, which compares Annie's apple to her grandfather, as both slowly wither away. This novel could be used in a sixth grade class or older to teach students or talk to students about the process of growing older. It could be used to help those students who have a family member who is ill or dying. The book could be read aloud to the class. After reading, students could take turns discussing how the book made them feel and relate those feelings to their real life experiences. This could be a way to help heal those students who have lost a loved one or are going through a difficult time in their lives.
ONE HUNDRED APPLES
Grandpa and baby Joey and I
are looking through my apple folder.
Grandpa points out his favorites
as Joey gazes wisely
as if he understands
what he is seeing.
Grandpa reaches the ninety-ninth apple:
a slim core
eaten away
a narrow indented column'
with a dignified but bent stem
and pale flesh
browning the edges.
As Grandpa turns the page
to the one hundredth apple
I hear a small intake of breath.
He takes the baby's finger
and together they trace
the drawing:
a small shiny brown seed
tear shaped
elegant
both old and new
silent
and
full
of
secrets.
No comments:
Post a Comment