In this Newbery Honor book, Audrey Couloumbis tells the tale of young Willa Jo coming of age in the midst of a family tragedy. After the baby sister dies and the next youngest stops speaking, Willa Jo must cope with her mother's overwhelming grief alone. That is until her aunt steps in and takes the children away from the mother so she can get her life back together. Willa Jo's own grief manifests in anger and stubbornness to the point that even she doesn't understand what she's feeling. One morning Willa Jo decides to sit on the roof until the sun comes up, much to her aunt's dismay. Willa Jo doesn't come down all day, neither does Little Sister, and then the whole family is up there, sitting together.
Couloumbis shares that her family lost a baby when she was Willa Jo's age and it inspired her to write about the feelings and relationships she had at the time. In trying to find out more about the author, I found a page where she described her process for coming up with characters. She said that for each character she tries to think of "10 observations this character would make, 10 things he or she would fight for, 10 decisions he or she would make, what he or she thinks about when daydreaming ..." (see more at http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-couloumbis-audrey.asp) While I'm not sure how or if I would incorporate this book into my classroom because of its serious subject matter, using her list of ideas for coming up with characters could be a great brainstorming activity for my future students.
The link for Audry Couloumbis' was helpful because I was a little confused about who exactly died in this novel, Little Sister or another sibling. Was the sibling who died an infant like Couloumbis' lost sibling?
ReplyDeleteThe sisters were named Willa Jo, Little Sister and Baby, from oldest to youngest. Baby died when she was about 1, if I remember correctly. Little Sister mysteriously stops speaking after Baby's death.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like another great book and I'll need to add it to my long list of ones to buy/read. I also like how the author describes her method for writing. I think that her techniques are great ways that we could introduce different kinds of brainstorming to upper elementary students and show them how they are all creative and all can be writers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response Kim (and Amanda)! It is interesting how Couloumbis doesn't give Willa Jo's sisters specific names. I wonder if it's to put the primary focus on Willa Jo's experience or to make the characters easier to relate to. Guess I'll have to read it!
ReplyDeleteTerribly sad theme that the author seems to have handled with grace and her own personal knowledge. Such profound grief. With the death of a child, parents have such challenge in dealing with the depths of their own pain that the siblings are often left on their own for a time. Often in grief, communication is so awkward. Will mentioning the loved one deepen the wound or serve as a balm? What to do? Sometimes, simply being present for one another is the answer. I love the image of the entire family slowly moving up onto the roof together to get closer to baby.... I am so grateful that young adult literature exists to reach out to young people across the pain and the distance.
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderful book to add to my list. Thanks, Kim.