Novel-in-verse

A Guest Review and Interview with Ona Gritz, The Shape of Wings Author

THE SHAPE OF WINGS

Written by Ona Gritz

(West 44 Books; Available in Hardcover, Paperback, and eBook,
Ages 14-18/Grades 9-12)

 

The Shape of Wings cover.

 

 

GUEST REVIEW BY KAROL SILVERSTEIN:

Newly connected with her biological sisters (having hunted down her sperm donor-dad on Ancestry), C.C. is loving getting to know them. But when talk turns to sports and other physical activities they all enjoy, C.C. chooses not to share that she has cerebral palsy, enjoying the anonymity of the Zoom room. C.C.’s friend group—which includes bestie volleyball star Paige—is all non-disabled. In fact, the only other disabled person C.C. knows is a local woman who’s a wheelchair user. That changes when Jasmine comes to the library where C.C. works. C.C. instantly recognizes Jasmine’s altered gait and assumes, correctly, that Jasmine has CP too. Jasmine’s astonished that C.C. has no disabled friends and is unaware of the nearby Judy Heumann Center, a gathering place for disabled kids and teens that offers adaptive sports and other activities.

Jasmine takes C.C. under her wing, taking her to the Heumann Center and introducing her around. The experience proves to be a revelation for C.C., who begins spending most of her time with Jasmine and the other disabled teens she meets. She even begins a sweet romance with Lucas, who’s blind, and starts learning adaptive volleyball. Meanwhile, C.C.’s been blowing off her other friends, and Paige is hurt and confused by how unavailable C.C.’s been all summer. Like keeping her CP a secret from her sisters, C.C. hasn’t shared her new friends or her budding romance with Paige.

When C.C. does finally hang out with Paige and her old friend group, she meets Paige’s cute cousin Jack, who takes an interest in C.C. Longing to “test the waters” of attracting a non-disabled guy, C.C. allows herself to be swept up in his attention and they kiss a little on her front porch at the end of the night. She instantly regrets her betrayal of Lucas and intends to tell him what she’s done. But Jasmine saw her kissing Jack, and is furious. C.C. knows she needs to come clean with all the secrets she’s been keeping—from Paige, from her sisters and from Lucas. Somehow she needs to reconcile the fences she’s put up and then broken and to bring the separate parts of her world together.

Like author Ona Gritz’s previous book that introduced C.C., The Space You Left Behind, this new novel is a hard-to-put-down page turner. It explores the benefit of leaning into one’s disabled identity and the power of having a community that understands you in a way those who don’t share your experience might not. C.C. swings from a disabled teen with no disabled friends to one who shuts out and nearly loses her long-time, non-disabled friends. Obviously, finding a balance and communicating more openly with her old friend group is essential for C.C. Seeing C.C.’s eyes open to all the disabled community has to offer was a thrill. The Judy Heumann Center was practically in her backyard, yet she didn’t know about—or about the disability activism of the center’s namesake.

Able-bodied parents of disabled kids often think treating their child “just like any other kid,” deemphasizing their disabled identity, is doing them a service. But it can deprive these kids of the opportunity to appreciate a significant part of themselves and to connect with other kids like them—in addition to their non-disabled friends. The Shape Of Wings is a loving, honest look at one teen’s journey of discovery and revelation around a part of herself she had yet to embrace as unique and powerful.

 

A Q&A With Ona Gritz by Karol Silverstein:

Karol Silverstein: Books are like our children’s. What excites you most about your latest?

Ona Gritz: The Shape of Wings is, in many ways, a love letter to disability friendships and community. I’m excited to share the depth of those connections, the fun to be found there, and how affirming and essential it is for disabled kids to have that particular part of themselves valued and understood from the inside out.

 

KS: Did you always envision (or hope for) a sequel to The Space You Left Behind?

OG: Not long after I began writing The Space You Left Behind, I realized I wanted more time with these characters. When we meet CC, she’s at the absolute beginning of her journey toward self-acceptance as a young woman with cerebral palsy and, by the end, disability pride and community are possibilities she’s just beginning to envision for herself. She was definitely ahead of me at 16 in that respect, but I hoped for an opportunity to fully immerse her in that world.

 

KS: Jasmine’s family leaned into her disability early on, connecting with the disability community and making sure she knew other disabled kids. CC’s parents did not. Which side of that coin landed face up for you growing up?

OG: Unfortunately, my family fell on CC’s side of that coin. I was the only disabled kid in my friend group growing up. As a result, I had no sense of disabled identity and tended to see myself as clumsy and lesser than because of the way my body moved and the physical things I couldn’t do. When I finally met my first disabled friend at 25, we had an immediate and breathless finish-each-other’s-sentences kind of connection. Soon after, I asked my mom why she didn’t seek out other families with disabled kids when I was small. She said it had never occurred to her.

 

KS: What’s your message to misguided disability allies—the “I don’t think of you as disabled” folks?

OG: That it’s not the compliment they think it is. Words like that not only discount our experiences and identity, but communicate a belief that disability is necessarily and solely a negative.

 

KS: Scoops seems like a fun place. What’s your go-to ice cream parlor order?

OG: Assuming they carry gelato, vanilla stracciatella.

 

KS: What books, shows, movies or music have you encountered recently that blew you away? Why?

OG: For books, Roxie in Color by Stacy Cervenka and Diane Debrovner is a unique and compelling story of a sighted 7 th grader with blind parents. My husband is blind, and the book felt authentic and true to our experience. It also happens to be a real page-turner. Another MG novel I loved was The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller. There’s something so fresh and surprising about Miller’s voice. She, and therefore her characters, have such a poetic and empathetic way of viewing the world. This is a book about books, friendship, and peer pressure that’s both heartbreaking and hopeful. I also can’t say enough good things about Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry by Ada Limón. It’s a lyrical and inspiring treatise on the importance of poetry. As a poet and verse novelist, I return to it often for inspiration. A movie I was especially charmed by this year was Eternity. It offers a wonderfully quirky and imaginative version of the afterlife, plus it has a lot of heart. And since we’re KidLit people, I’ll add that I absolutely love the film adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. It was my first-ever favorite book, and I thought it was beautifully translated to film. Shows I’ve loved recently are Hacks, Shrinking, and All Creatures Great and Small. What all three share in common are dimensional and irresistible characters.

Author Ona Gritz photocredit Wendy Setzer
Ona Gritz, Photo Credit: Wendy Setzer.

AUTHOR BIO:

Ona Gritz holds a master of arts in poetry from the creative writing program at New York University. She is the author of the hi/lo young adult verse novels Take a Sad Song, a Kirkus Reviews’ best YA title; The Space You Left Behind, a Children’s Book Council Disability Pride Month Recommended Read; and its brand-new sequel, The Shape of Wings, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her books for middle grade readers include If You Find This Letter, recently featured in People Magazine for Disability Pride Month, and August Or Forever, a Reader’s Choice and Wishing Shelf finalist in middle grade fiction. She also writes poetry and nonfiction for adults.
Find out more at her website: www.onagritz.com.

Author socials:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onagritz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557125428404

Buy the book: Children’s Book World, Haverford, PA for signed copies, or Bookshop.org.

REVIEWER BIO:

Karol Ruth Silverstein (she/her/disabled) is an award-winning children’s book author. She’s
represented by Abigail Samoun at Red Fox Literary and lives in West Hollywood, California, with
two unmanageably fluffy cats. Check out www.karolruthsilverstein.com for more info.

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Middle Grade Book Review – Starfish

STARFISH
Written by Lisa Fipps
(Nancy Paulsen Books; $17.99, Ages 10 and up)

 

 

★Starred Reviews – Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal

 

I soaked up every last word of Starfish, the Printz Honor-winning debut by Lisa Fipps, and could easily dive back in and read it all over again because I felt such a strong connection with the main character, Ellie. This moving middle-grade novel told in verse takes us inside Ellie’s head as she navigates life at school and at home where she is not only bullied by classmates for being overweight but by her mother as well. 

Early on readers learn that Ellie lives by her Fat Girl Rules (e.g. Make yourself small; If you’re fat, there are things you can’t have), finding refuge in her pool at home “starfishing” as she spreads out freely claiming her space. She also finds comfort in the company of her BFF, Viv, who moves away, but remains an ally from afar. Ellie’s father is a psychiatrist, compassionate and loving. On the other hand, Ellie’s mother is a writer whose harsh “words gut me like a fish.” She is always after Ellie to diet, and presses her to consider bariatric surgery, even going so far as to take her to doctors for evaluation. I ached along with Ellie as her mom mistreated her by constantly focusing on the bad rather than loving the good. Home should be a safe place for Ellie but it isn’t. It’s a constant reminder of how she is not meeting expectations between her demanding mother, her insulting older brother, and her non-supportive older sister who dubbed Ellie “Splash” at her fifth birthday party following a cannonballing incident. Tensions spill over into everything Ellie does.

With Viv gone, Ellie and her neighbor Catalina become fast friends with Catalina’s parents and siblings offering her the kind of family life and acceptance she wishes she had at home. A therapist Ellie begins to see, referred to as Doc in the book, provides the kind of insight and strategies Ellie can use to approach the bullies who think nothing of fat-shaming this bright, beautiful adolescent. Doc helps Ellie learn to appreciate herself and her gifts, reminding her that “No matter what you weigh, you deserve for people to treat you like a human being with feelings.” This sentiment will resonate with many young readers who can use so much of what Fipps writes as a reassuring resource for any bullying and self-doubt they may be experiencing.

The intimacy of this book comes from the verse and Ellie’s powerful voice. It’s as if we’re living each experience with her and cheering for her as she takes on the bullies and turns the tables on them without having to compromise by losing a single pound. Fipps drives home the point that bullies are the ones with the issues, not those being picked on. She shows how kids, whether big or small, tall or short, can embrace their uniqueness and love themselves for who they truly are not just how they appear. It’s no surprise how much praise this novel received. I hope you’ll share it with kids you know so they can walk in Ellie’s shoes and understand what size-based discrimination feels like and how to be a part of the change needed.

  • Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

 

Link to Teachers Guide here.

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Swing, a Novel-in-Verse by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess

SWING
Written by Kwame Alexander
with Mary Rand Hess
(Blink YA Books; $18.99, Ages 14-18) 

 

Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess book cover

 

 

★Starred Reviews – Kirkus, School Library Journal 

Kwame Alexander’s Newbery Award-winning novel, The Crossover, used basketball as the backdrop for the story. His new book, written with Mary Rand Hess, is a novel-in-verse called Swing with a prologue beginning:

We were halfway through

junior year.

Rounding the bases.

About to score

it’s a good bet that the title refers to baseball.However, Hess and Alexander also collaborated on the 2017 novel Solo about rock and roll, and it turns out that Swingis as much about swinging the beat as swinging the bat. Most of all, though, it’s about putting yourself out there and embracing life.

The book opens as narrator Noah and his best friend Walt (AKA “Swing”) have again failed to make their high school baseball team. Noah wants to give up, lamenting:

But the truth is

we suck.

Our baseball dream

is a nightmare.

It haunts me.

Noah defines himself by what he can’t do. He can’t play baseball, and he can’t tell his longtime crush, Sam, how he feels about her. With Walt’s encouragement, Noah tries writing poetry for her, but it’s not very — well, see for yourself:

I want you

to be my symphony

…

Your legs

two piccolo trumpets

blazing through

the air.

Even Walt agrees the poem is not good enough to give to Sam, but when Noah buys a second-hand Louis Vuitton Keepall as a birthday gift for his mom, he finds old love letters stashed in the lining that inspire him to try again.

Tonight, I’m ready

To tear courage

Out of the book of dares

And make it mine.

The love letters give him a scaffold for creating art worth sharing. Noah uses them to make blackout poetry — he blacks out some words so that the ones that remain legible form a new poem — and then adds original graphic elements with his pen. The resulting mixed media art stands out, even in this book composed entirely of poems. They make me curious; I have to figure out which letter Noah uses for which piece. They make me want to try writing blackout poetry myself, and they make Noah more confident, able to express himself and impress the girl he loves.

As wonderful as Noah’s art is, my favorite creation in this book is, simply, Walt. I want to reread Swingto spend more time with him. Noah describes him and his quirks like this:

My best friend

Walt Disney Jones

is obsessed with jazz,

baseball,

dead famous people,

and finding cool,

if it’s the last thing

we ever do.

…

But Walt’s a

self-proclaimed expert

on how to

never give up

until you win.

When it comes to “finding cool,” especially with regard to girls, Walt relies on his older cousin Floyd and a podcast called The Woohoo Woman. He won’t give up, whether he’s practicing baseball or finding a date for prom. He even gets a tattoo inspired by Tupac Shakur’s acronym THUG LIFE. Walt’s tattoo says HUG LIFE, exhorting everyone who sees it to embrace the world, and all its people and opportunities, wholeheartedly.

Noah’s quest to win Sam over from her boyfriend takes flight after Noah’s parents go on a trip, leaving him home alone for a few weeks. Noah’s grandmother is supposed to supervise him but doesn’t believe it’s necessary. Walt, on the other hand, moves right in, believing Noah absolutely needs supervision if he’s going to win Sam’s heart. Walt anonymously sends Sam one of Noah’s poems, but it’s still up to Noah to decide how and when to reveal himself. Will he ever convince Sam to promote him out of the friend zone?

Swing is most of all a coming-of-age story, but there is a mystery in the background throughout. People find American flags left on lawns, stuck on windshields, and painted on freeway exit signs, and the town debates whether the flags represent a show of patriotism or a sinister warning.

…no one can agree

on why the flags are here,

who’s planting them,

and whether or not

we should be

happy or offended

that they’re growing

like dandelions.

The flag mystery leads a fairly light story into heavier territory. I believe in building empathy and understanding through books about difficult topics; however, in Swing, the social justice issues are not well developed. Because of this, I felt unprepared for a tragedy (caused by police using excessive force) at the end of the book, and I think younger, sensitive readers in particular may have the same experience. Most of us dislike spoilers, but with Swing I think it’s fair to provide readers with a little warning before reading and a lot of opportunities for discussion afterward. In that context, I recommend Swing to readers fourteen and up as both a funny coming-of-age buddy story and a serious vehicle for discussing the people we as a society forget, fear, or abuse.

  • Review by Mary Malhotra

 

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