Review: The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Title: The Sound of Letting Go
Author: Stasia Ward Kehoe
Publisher: Viking/Penguin
Pub. Date: February 6, 2014
Genre: Young Adult
Rec. Age Level: 14+

Add to Goodreads

_________________________________

From the outside, Daisy’s life looks normal. A talented musician and good student, her future is bright and promising, but, at home, things are tense and complicated. Daisy’s younger brother, Steven, is autistic and, despite their constant efforts, living with an autistic family member is proving much harder now that he’s reaching maturity. Steven can now easily overpower Daisy and her parents and helping a teenage boy who doesn’t know his own strength and often reacts physically and violently when stressed and overwhelmed is putting a strain on the entire family. When Daisy’s parents decide to place Steven in a specialized institution where they feel his needs and happiness will be better met, Daisy is shocked. Part of her is relieved, but she mostly feels guilt, sadness, and anger. How can her parents just send her brother away? How can he possibly be better off without the people that love him most? As Daisy struggles with her parents’ choice and tries to come to terms with her feelings, her confusion and conflicted emotions about her home life seep into her school and social life. The darkness inside her manifests itself in her wardrobe, makeup, and even her love life, as she falls Dave, an old friend turned bad boy. She begins neglecting her responsibilities and the things she loves, including her music and friends. It’s Cal, a new Irish exchange student, that won’t give up on the old Daisy and reminds her of the powerful magic of music, finally bringing her back to herself and acceptance.

I don’t read nearly enough verse novels, but every time I read a novel by Stasia Ward Kehoe, I’m kick myself for neglecting the format. I loved Kehoe’s first novel, Audition, but I think I might appreciate The Sound of Letting Go more. Kehoe did an incredible job giving a voice to those families who include a individual with autism. My cousin is autistic and I remember how difficult it was when my cousin reached Steven’s age; Kehoe’s portrayal is painfully honest.

I can’t imagine having to make the decision to send my child to an institution, as Daisy’s parents do, even if I knew that he would be more comfortable in that setting than at home. If I were in Daisy’s shoes, dealing with the guilt and sadness of sending my brother away, I think I would have reacted much the same way. Daisy’s entire life has been devoted to order and consistency, carefully regulated so not to cause Steven stress, so it makes sense that everything she knows would be thrown into chaos. I can’t help but see Steven was as a powerful magnet that keeps everything centered… without him everything in Daisy’s life is spinning out of control.

I highly recommend both of Stasia Ward Kehoe’s verse novels. If you’ve never read a verse novel before, Kehoe’s offer a great introduction, showing just how versatile and beautiful the format can be!

Review: Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill

On a bleak February day in 1963 a young American poet died by her own hand, and passed into a myth that has since imprinted itself on the hearts and minds of millions. She was and is Sylvia Plath and Your Own, Sylvia is a portrait of her life, told in poems.

With photos and an extensive list of facts and sources to round out the reading experience, Your Own, Sylvia is a great curriculum companion to Plath's The Bell Jar and Ariel, a welcoming introduction for newcomers, and an unflinching valentine for the devoted.

___________________________________

Sylvia Plath is an enigma that I've spent a (probably) unhealthy amount of time trying to understand. Like many women and teens who've read her work, I feel a strong sense of kinship to Plath that fuels my curiosity, and I found Stephanie Hemphill's Your Own, Sylvia to be a welcome and engaging read which offered both interesting information and the emotion of poetry.

It surprised me how much I learned while reading Your Own, Sylvia. Many of the poems mimic poems written by Plath in style or form and were informed by the reports or writings of those who knew her. It's clear that the poems are fictional accounts created by Hemphill, but, for me, each had a clear ring of truth and feasibility. It's clear Hemphill spent much time researching Plath and those in her life before composing the poems that make up the novel. Some of them are better than others, that is, some felt more aesthetically pleasing, but they all contributed in an important way to the overall narrative. 

After each poem, Hemphill added factual information or a short explanation of the poem. Given the personal nature of the poetry, the information included often had a personal tone as well. I never felt that I was being force fed dry bits of factual information, rather, each fact gave additional depth and meaning to Hemphill's poems and created a more vivid portrait of Plath.

I highly recommend Your Own, Sylvia to readers with a particular interest in Plath, as well as those who generally enjoy poetry and verse novels. Hemphill's novel is unique in that it focuses on a real person and weaves facts into the verse novel format, offering readers something new and notable. I'm looking forward to Hemphill's upcoming verse portrait, Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein. This novel, which focuses on author Mary Shelley, is scheduled for an October 2013 release.

Random House, December 2008, Paperback, ISBN:  9780375837999, 272 pgs.