Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets
on BookLikes:
Evan Roskos
“I hate myself but I love Walt Whitman, the kook. Always positive. I need to be more positive, so I wake myself up every morning with a song of myself.” Sixteen-year-old James Whitman has been yawping (à la Whitman) at his abusive father ever since he kicked his beloved older sister, Jorie, out...
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“I hate myself but I love Walt Whitman, the kook. Always positive. I need to be more positive, so I wake myself up every morning with a song of myself.” Sixteen-year-old James Whitman has been yawping (à la Whitman) at his abusive father ever since he kicked his beloved older sister, Jorie, out of the house. James’s painful struggle with anxiety and depression—along with his ongoing quest to understand what led to his self-destructive sister’s exile—make for a heart-rending read, but his wild, exuberant Whitmanization of the world and keen sense of humor keep this emotionally charged debut novel buoyant.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780547928531 (054792853X)
ASIN: 054792853X
Publish date: 2013-03-05
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Pages no: 320
Edition language: English
Category:
Young Adult,
Teen,
Realistic Fiction,
Health,
Contemporary,
Sociology,
Poetry,
Mental Health,
Mental Illness,
High School,
Abuse,
Fiction
I really loved this one! I enjoyed the way Whitman was incorporated into the book, despite not being a huge fan of his poetry, and the way James thought about and interacted with the poetry worked for me. I liked the style, which came close to over-done but never quite was. And I thought Roskos did ...
DR. BIRD’S ADVICE FOR SAD POETS was a wonderful, refreshing surprise. James Whitman is battling depression. His abusive father has just kicked James’s older sister, Jorie, out of the house when she’s expelled from school, and when he refuses to pay for James to see a therapist, James finds his own m...
A few weeks ago, we were discussing constructions of masculine identity in children’s literature. We had read an article by the fantastic Perry Nodelman about the stereotypes applied to men and boys where their masculinity is concerned. These stereotypes were collected under headings such as “phalli...
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