The Year I was Grounded
by William New |
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In his fourth book for young readers, William New tells the story of a year in the life of
Geordie, who loves, among other things, playing baseball. The tale really begins when
Geordie throws a baseball and accidentally breaks a window. To make matters worse,
Geordie tries to wriggle out of the situation by lying. This gets him grounded for two whole
weeks. Dad does, nevertheless, reassure Geordie by adding, “We love you…all day, every
night—and in darkness and light, when you’re you, you’re just right.”
Naturally, Geordie is not actually grounded for an entire year. However, the reader
is invited into a year in Geordie’s world through his journal entries, his poems, and word
puzzles. The layout of these elements is particularly intriguing as it’s so varied. Both funny
and touching, these methods of telling the story of Geordie’s year will captivate readers.
There is a clear ecological theme running through the book. When Geordie speaks of the
year he was grounded, he also means the year he begins to grow up, appreciate the things
around him that are truly important, and feel increasingly sure of himself. I was especially
enchanted by the beautiful verse throughout the book, in particular “A Handful of Earth”
and “Things I’ve Learned This Year.”
As an enjoyable addition to this wonderful volume, the author offers the reader Geordie’s
website where the answers to all of the word puzzles included in the book are located.
This funny and poignant work is a delight for casual reading and would make
an excellent book for classroom study. Because of its use of a variety of literary techniques
and its imaginative page layout, it would be particularly appealing to reluctant readers.
--Ann Shantz is a Toronto bookseller. The Canadian Children's Book Centre
Geordie’s grandparents give him a journal, and he writes lists,
vignettes, poems, and reflections over the course of one year. His
poems observe and record human activity, science, and nature. Most
often, his subjects are family, school, or the outdoors, including the
carrots he and his father plan to plant. The book is presented in
journal style with different type fonts and some full-page concrete
poems. New’s poems, such as “Band Practice,” demonstrate a pleasing
command of rhythm and imagery. However, the spare details in the journal entries provide a weak narrative thread
and leave Geordie as a half-baked persona. The rather banal prose
entries bear little resemblance to the wistful poems. The poems do
yield some moments of insight, but they don’t illuminate the writer who
supposedly penned them. Nor do they feel like the creations of a child.
Extensive poetry collections may wish to add this hybrid, but most
libraries should
stick with Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog (HarperCollins, 2001) and Ron Koertge’s Shakespeare Bats Cleanup (Candlewick, 2003) for this audience.–-School Library Journal, Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT
This book is about a
year in the life of Gordie, or Gordie dear, as his grandmother calls
him. She has given him a journal. “What shall I write?”
he asks her. Just write down all the things you like and don't like.
So begins a year of Gordie's thoughts. He uses journal entries and
poems. He loves making up many word puzzles to try and stump his
brother and sister. This year in his life begins with his
breaking a window. Since he will not own up his father grounds him.
All through the seasons Gordie thinks; even he says he thinks too
much. He worries about breathing, food, carrots, which he loves, the
death of his grandfather, dust, earth and outer space. His parents
say he is just growing up.
William New uses the
journal entries to tell of Gordie's everyday life. The poetry is used
to express his thoughts. The word puzzles are his struggles with his
brother and sister while trying to find his place in his
family.
This is a very gentle
book, an easy read for young readers. Recommended for class a read
aloud, journal or poetry units. --Reviewed by Gloria
Reinheimer, retired teacher-librarian
--the Virtual Bookmark
Teen Review. Reviewed by Tyler, Age 13
The author of Llamas in the Laundry
(2002) offers another volume of themed poetry, this time for a slightly
older audience. Geordie receives a journal from his grandparents, and
after he is grounded for breaking a window, he finds much time for
writing. He muses about snow, aliens, gardening, and, after his
grandfather’s death, the composition of dust. Geordie’s pieces range
from lyrical prose to traditional rhymes to linear and concrete poems
to word puzzles.
The typesetting and design are of particular note; in many poems the
words become the art, as in “Spider Games,” where each haiku-styled
stanza is printed on a different strand of a web, resulting in a poem
that can be read in multiple ways. With generous white space on every
page, this makes a good choice for reluctant readers. Give this to fans
of other narrative poetry collections such as Kalli Dakos’ Put Your Eyes Up Here and Other School Poems (2003); a Web site offers puzzle
solutions and a teaching guide. Grades 4-7. --Booklist, Kay Weisman
Geordie is grounded for not admitting that he broke a window while playing baseball, and this journal is the result. It was a gift from his grandparents, who advised him “just write down all the things you like and all the things you don’t like”. So Geordie’s journal is a compendium of lists, poems, word games, and diary entries, in the tradition of commonplace books.
This book will appeal to kids who love word play, and would be a great read-aloud for parents or teachers to share with young readers.
Thematic Links: Young Adult Poetry; Word Games; Concrete Poetry --Resource link, William New
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