Spinning through the universe

By Helen Frost

Subjects: Novels in verse, Family life, fiction, Stories in rhyme, Interpersonal relations, Fiction, School attendance, fiction, Children's fiction, Poetry, Schools, Family life

Description: Unforgettable students in this fifth-grade classroom reveal their private feelings about birth and death, a missing bicycle and a first kiss, as well as their thoughts about recess, report cards, fitting in, and family. Using a rich array of traditional poetic forms, such as sonnets, sestinas, and acrostics, Helen Frost interweaves the stories of the kids in Room 214 and their teacher. A final section giving detailed analyses of the twenty-two forms will be of special interest.