see sara. see sara write. » Haiku review

Haiku Review: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Sara — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:38:03 +0000

Wolves, lightning, silence.

Cabinet of Mysteries,

Built out of pictures.

Haiku Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Sara — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:44:50 +0000

Snark and bullets fly!

Pageant queens find girl power…

They wave at danger!

Haiku Review: Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor

Sara — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:03:58 +0000

What is in a kiss?

Souls? Magic? Hell? The answer is:

This mesmeric book.

Valentine hearts for Roald Dahl

Sara — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:00:03 +0000

Violets are Blue, Diana Wynne Jones is Faboo

Sara — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:31:58 +0000

Yeti loves Adam Rex

Sara — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:23:31 +0000

Roses are red, Ellen Raskin is AWESOME!

Sara — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:43:21 +0000

*t-shirt found here

Happy Valentine’s Day, Paul Fleischman

Sara — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:20:31 +0000

I heart Daniel Pinkwater

Sara — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:52:03 +0000

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Sara — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:50:29 +0000

Wow.

Really wow.

I just listened to the amazing audiobook of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, read by the author Jack Gantos. I found myself laughing and tearing up at the same time. Joey Pigza, a kid with extreme behavior issues, is so friendly, so dynamic, and so exuberant that I fell in love with him, even while I saw how he disrupted the world around him. The way he tried and the way the world often misjudged him, or didn’t have the time or patience or understanding to give him, broke my heart. But Joey is unstoppable, and infinitely embraceable.

This first-person trip into the mind of Joey, filled with uncontrollable impulses, extreme fears and desires, and a very funny narrative, opened my mind and heart* to kid’s in Joey’s shoes. It gave me a window into attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the same way The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon opened a window into autism. Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key is a masterful book, written with a quality and candidness that you don’t always see in stories for this age group.

Plus, Jack Gantos did an amazing job reading this book. He’ll always be Joey Pigza to me.

HaikuReview: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos

Just sit. Just listen.
Just do the impossible.
Just wishes he could.

*I do realize that I’ve used the word ‘heart’ twice and ‘love’ once in this review. Because I heart heart heart Joey.