Skip to main content

I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME by Lisa Schroeder


 
copyright date: January 2008
primarily marketed for: young adults

I love poetry, so books in verse are always appealing to me.  I picked this one up because of the poetry, even though ghost stories are not my thing (I like books about dead people, but not ghost stories, go figure). 

At the opening of the story, Ava’s boyfriend Jackson has already died.  She is trying to figure out how to go on with her own life without him.  But he won’t leave her. 

Although the verse in the book is dead on (no pun intended) and often gut-wrenchingly powerful, the way Jackson haunts Ava is very unsettling to me. 

I was more drawn to the way Ava struggles to embrace the new shape her life has taken on since Jackson’s death.  Ava’s struggle is universal—the struggle to deal with loss.  Not all of us have lost a loved one due to death, but all of us have experienced loss of some kind—loss of a best friend, loss of a boyfriend or girlfriend, distance in a sibling relationship.  Being torn between holding on and moving on is a familiar feeling.  Schroeder beautifully expresses that feeling through Ava’s story of the lost love that haunts her.  

If you love romance, ghost stories, and/or novels in verse, this one will definitely leave you satisfied.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Linda BJanuary 11, 2012 at 8:01 PM

    It sounds interesting, Christy. I'll add it to my growing list of novels in verse. Also, I just saw a review of Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes, another novel in verse. You might be interested.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JoannaJanuary 12, 2012 at 2:09 AM

    Ghost stories don't do much for me in general, though I have just read and loved Maureen Johnson's the Name of the Star, However, I do love novels in verse and the way you depict Ava's struggle with loss draws me in. I think I would enjoy this one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Miss KMarch 15, 2012 at 4:45 PM

    I totally agree with you about the way Jackson haunts Ava...I kept wondering if their relationship had been abusive. I guess not, but still, it was unsettling. I plan on checking out the companion novel, Chasing Brooklyn.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY by Kevin C. Pyle

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Despite the fact that the teacher in me sees so many lesson possibilities in Kevin C. Pyle’s graphic novel Take What You Can Carry , you should read it simply for the grace of its stories.   The artwork is as striking as the stories it tells.   Using artwork in two different colors and styles, Pyle tells the stories of two teenage boys living years and miles apart.   And yet, he communicates the universality in their experiences.   One boy is a Japanese American forced to move into an internment camp during WWII.   His family struggles to maintain their dignity and sense of peace under unbearable conditions. The other is a rebellious boy with an attitude whose reckless behavior causes him to wind up in trouble with the law.   To make amends, he finds himself completing community service hours in the most unlikely place.   I found my...
1 comment
Read more

THE SEA IN WINTER by Christine Day

  release date: January 5, 2021 primarily marketed for: Middle grades The Sea in Winter  by Christine Day is a gift to its readers. It is a book of quiet strength with much to offer.  Maisie is a ballet dancer who feels most herself when she is at the dance studio. However, at the start of this story, Maisie is coping with a serious knee injury that prevents her from dancing long-term. She misses her friends from dance and struggles to maintain those connections when she is no longer part of the dancing life they shared.  When her mom and stepdad plan a road trip to the Olympic Peninsula to visit sites of familial and cultural significance, Maisie stubbornly overworks her healing knee. She is determined to heal and return to the studio  faster than expected. Although her knee is the only focus of Maisie's wellness journey, it turns out there is more to healing than physical fitness.  Maisie is a quietly compelling character, but I was surprised to find myse...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE GREATEST SUPERPOWER by Alex Sanchez

copyright date: January 1, 2021 primarily marketed for: middle grades The Greatest Superpower  by Alex Sanchez is a gem. I was in a bit of a reading slump until I picked up this book, thanks to NetGalley .  This middle grades book is about comic book loving Jorge who is navigating his parents' divorce and his first crush on a girl. Jorge's parents not only announce they are getting divorced, but his father also reveals to Jorge and his twin brother Cesar that she is transgender and wishes to live as her true self.  Although this announcement is a confusing surprise to Jorge, his love for his father ultimately trumps all. Cesar, however, is angry at their dad and works to prevent Jorge from sharing the truth with his friends.  In the midst of the changes in Jorge's family life, he and his friends are trying to invent a new superhero for a comic book contest. When Jorge blurts out the idea of the superpower to gender-shift, his friends jump on board.  Conversatio...
Post a Comment
Read more