Keesha's House
Helen Frost's experimenst with variations on two poetic forms, the sestina and the sonnet, to tell the story of a group of teens facing serious challenges. Stephie is pregnant. Jason, her boyfriend, struggles with knowing the right thing to do. Dontay has run away from his foster care placement. Harris has recently come out as gay, and his dad has kicked him out of the house. Carmen has been arrested for drunk driving. And Katie has an abusive stepfather. One by one, most of the teens find themselves drawn to the safe haven of Keesha's house, which actually belongs to a man named Joe. It's not an official shelter, or an authorized juvenile home, and that's part of its appeal. Keesha is a teen who already has many battles behind her. She's left her alcoholic father and moved into Joe's house. Joe knows what it's like be young and scared and in need of a safe place to turn to. "I ain't up to the task / of tryin' to be their legal foster dad. / But I can give them space-and space is time." The first-person poems move in and out of each teen's story, but they overlap and interconnect as word about Keesha's house is passed in a story driven by the authentic voices of its characters. The plot never feels too heavy or contrived, which is an extraordinary feat. Most of the poems in the teens' voices are written as sestinas. The poems in the adult's voices--Joe, parents, teachers, and others trying to cast a net for these kids--are written as sonnets. In the final section of the novel, Frost wraps up the seven teens' stories with a crown of sonnets--"seven Italian sonnets in which the last line of one sonnet is the first line of the next." It's a perfect choice to underscore how lives that are connected weave a web of hope. The author's note providing information on each of the poetic forms will be useful for readers and classroom teachers alike. ©2003 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 12 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Formats:
Novel
Poetry
Subjects:
Abuse
African Americans
Community
Drugs and Alcohol
Empathy and Compassion
Homophobia
LGBTQ+ Persons
Novels in Verse
Responsibility
Teen Pregnancy
Diversity subjects:
Black/African
Multicultural General
LGBTQ Character/Topic
Publishers:
Farrar Straus Giroux, Frances Foster Books
Publish Year: 2003
Pages: 116
ISBN: 0374340641
CCBC Location: Fiction, Frost