Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214

By Helen Frost

Engrossing tales from the fifth grade Every child is like A little world with ever-changing weather, Nights and mornings. And somehow, here we are, Spinning through the universe together. 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374371598
• ISBN13: 9780374371593
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 0.6" x 5.7"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Everything Works!

Everything works! The level of language, the teasing complexities, the discovery of personalities and little plot situations, the balanceof affirmations which also acknowledge life complexities at the 5th grade level--all of it works and is audience appropriate. I also like the challenge of the forms and the occasional "strategic" placement of a metaphor that a young reader might have to chew in order to figure out. Naomi is a stroke of brilliance.In an age of kid-bashing and especially teacher-bashing, this book is such a powerful affirmation. It does not talk down to readers, and I can imagine a good teacher generating a whole sequence of discussions,assignements and projects from it.Even though aimed at 5th graders, I could (and would love to have the opportunity to) teach a college intro. creative writing class from this book! It is an eloquent demonstration why form matters, and what form can achieve. Without pretentiousness, each poem's achievement affirms that "emoting on paper" and the alleged sacredness of one's first inspiration/ draft (typical student writer assumptions) is all a bunch of bunk.Whether one is a 5th grader or not, teacher or not, if good poetry is in your diet, this book will nourish and feed you well.