INTRODUCTION
There is an old saying, “Home is where the heart is”. The novel in poetic verse by VT Bidania, A Year Without Home, deals with the emotional toll of homesickness but also the positive power of learning to make the best of things no matter your home’s location.
REVIEW
Preteen Laos native, Gao Sheng, has special affection for her family’s homestead and a familiar routine. She notes that the family’s peach trees have “pink-white peach blossoms/bloomed on every branch,/” … the pretty petals/drop to the ground/ like the wings of swallow tale/ butterflies/ fluttering in the hot sun.” (p.1). She carries seeds from the peach pits in a little pouch determined to plant her own peach trees someday. She adores her large extended family and the big hill outside the home where she spends sunny afternoons romping with siblings and friends. She notes, “I love our mountain,/so how could I not/ love this school/ here up high/ where we are surrounded/ by bright green plants/ and sweet-smelling flowers” Geo delights in the birds of every color which tweet happy melodies as they swoop past trees hanging outside the school’s windows. (p. 20). Life is idyllic!
One day, her world is turned on its head when her family must flee Laos and go to a refugee camp in Thailand to escape Communist forces. She resents camp life and every time she shuts her eyes, she dreams of home. Some of the section headings convey her discontent with refugee status. Titles like “Dirty Bus,” “Humid Blanket,” “Watery Bugs,” “Disappointed,” “Oily Broth,” and “Blazing Sun” make the reader feel the discontent jumping off the page. Can she learn the secret of contentment no matter what her home may look like?
It is interesting to note the emotion which verse brings that is not possible with prose. Words in the novel get bigger or stanzas may be small depending on the mood of the poem. In the poem titled “Thursday” (pp. 265, 266) Gou Sheng’s friend encourages her to speak up for herself by repeating a French phrase which gets bigger the louder she says it. When describing an explosion from enemy fire Gao Sheng writes, “A boom then a gushing pounds in my ears shakes me to my bones then I hear PUH PUH PUH PONGGG!” (p. 286). The loud explosion jumps off the page!
In the poem titled “Delight,” the refugees taste a sugary treat after a long time without sugar of any kind. The stanzas are very small and read things like “Cloudy puffs of flour./ Powder./Sugar/ …White/whisps/ floating/ Feathery/ clouds/ flying… Dreamy/ gooey/ sweet /goodness./ Bubbles./ Steamy./ Delight. (p. 306). Such short stanzas make you pause and ponder the delight that the character is experiencing. Sometimes the poem may be just a few words or sentences, and you can feel the emotion pouring off the page. One poem is simply called “What?” and is three words: “ Yia is going too.”
You’ll have to read the story to catch all the instances of different emotions and sensations. Reading a story in prose is my preference, but Bidania’s book taught me that verse has its merits. The author may not use many words, but what she says about the value of finding home wherever you can, touches your heart in its simplicity.
GUEST BLOGGER
Kate Lundeen is a frequent book reviewer. She last shared her thoughts about Where the Light Shines In. She writes, “The Lord’s hand of watchful care and protection blessed my life from my start as a tiny premature infant. Doctors diagnosed me with cerebral palsy from birth complications which mainly affected my legs and motor skills. I also have a learning disability that does not allow me to write down or process thoughts as fast as other people. I am a former homeschooler and obtained an Associate in Arts degree from a North Carolina community college after five years of hard work! I discovered and developed a love for writing in college. Now I pen articles for my local church newsletter and write book reviews. I enjoy my current job as a part-time library assistant in a Christian library in Matthews, NC. I have a servant’s heart and a willing attitude to grow in old skills and develop new ones along whatever path the Lord chooses to take me.”
Recently, a fellow Monarch author, told me that she had reposted one of Kate’s reviews on her blog. A reader commented,
Oh Katie!!! What a special post to have found and to see you thriving!! I was your primary care nurse in the NICU and we stayed in touch with your family for many years.
Love seeing you review this book!!! Brenda
I love seeing these connections!
This looks like a great book. Added it to my TBR
Thanks, Judy. Your name starts the list.
It sounds like an engaging, sad, and lovely book. I can’t imagine being forced from my home and fleeing for my life.
Thank you, Pam. I’ll add your name to the list.
Always love finding great reads for my middle schoolers!
Thank you, Jennie. I think this is the first time you’ve commented on my blog so you’re in twice!
This sounds like an emotional, heart-gripping story. I don’t read much novel in verse, but this one seems like one I’d enjoy.
Thank you, Stephane. I’m happy to find your comment on my blog.
I think this is the first time you’ve left a comment on my blog so you’re in twice!
I love NIVs — believing, like you, that the emotional flow of poems feels bigger than in prose. Looking forward to reading this!
Thanks Patricia. I think this is the first time you’ve commented on my blog so you’re in twice! Carol
Novels in verse can be very powerful reads and I have enjoyed many of them. I’m always in wonder how authors can get so much emotional impact while telling a story in so few words.
I agree! And it sounds as if this one does just that!
This sounds like a powerful story!! The blog is well written, too. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Marci. I’m sure Kate will appreciate your comment.
Dear Carol,
Kate’s review of A Year without a Home was good. The author seems to have described situations with varied and true emotions. Thank you for sharng. It would be devastating to be without a home.
I agree, Joan. Do you want to be in the giveaway?
I usually prefer prose, too, but it sounds like telling this story in verse was a more powerful choice. I’ll pass on the giveaway as the publisher sent me the book.
Thanks, Natalie!
I really appreciate that this review talks about what we gain from the novel being in verse. I don’t read a lot of those, in part because I don’t often see what difference the poetry makes (maybe it often doesn’t even feel like poetry). I see that this is one that not only makes sense being in verse, but which should be read, not listened to, to really get it.
Great review, thank you Kate! It sounds like a wonderful read, a great story, and you’ve done a great job of selling the verse format to me (like you, I prefer prose). Thanks for sharing, Carol!
I tend to prefer prose books, but novels in verse can capture emotions in a way that prose often can’t. This sounds like such an interesting read! We have dear family friends who escaped Vietnam at the end of the war. And how cool that Katie’s NICU nurse saw her reviews!
I’m also a reluctant verse reader, but have come to like the approach more and more. This story sounds perfect the way it is and I hope to give it a read some day. Thanks for another great review, Kate.
I think you’re right, Rebecca
Thank you, Greg. I hope you get a chance to read it.
Thank you, Jenni. I agree about Kate’s nurse!
Thanks for stopping by, Valinora. Nice comment for Kate and V.T.!