This is a heart renching story told in poems by an 11 year old boy, Lonnie. We discover that his family has been torn appart by his parents death, his sister is adopted by a family and he is left to live in foster care. He talks of his everyday struggles and feelings. His teacher helps him by incurraging him to write his toughts on paper. A emotionally full book. ( )

This book is written in verse, and this format lends itself to trauma literature. The poems tell a tragic story of a young boy named Lonnie who is in foster care because he lost both of his loving parents. He is trying to deal with his grief, and the loss of being separated from his sister. In addition, the main character is an African-American boy who is also dealing with what it means to be black in America. Consequently, race relations are a theme in the plot. I feel poetry is a condensed format that can at times express much more emotion than prose. Since the literature contains a realistic portrayal of traumatic events, I would be cautious to recommend the book to any child. Reading a poem a day would be a great way to introduce the book to the class, in this way students can be mentally prepared for the sometimes depressing and sad tone in the book. I think this book could offer a lot of psychological support for many YA students who have gone through tragedy at a young age. These poems could validate strong emotions, and give students hope in the idea that life always gives us opportunities for new beginnings after loss. ( )

Richie's Picks: LOCOMOTION by Jacqueline Woodson

POETRY POEM
You don't just get to write a poem once
You gotta write it over and over and over
until it feels real good to you
And sometimes it does
and sometimes it doesn't
That's what's really great
and really stupid
about poetry.
One lunchtime presentation at NCTE that I won't soon forget was listening to Jacqueline Woodson read extensively from her latest book, LOCOMOTION:

MAMA
Some days, like today
and yesterday and probably
tomorrow--all my missing gets jumbled up inside of me.

You know honeysuckle talc powder?
Mama used to smell like that. She told me
honeysuckle's really a flower but all I know
is the powder that smells like Mama.
Sometimes when the missing gets real bad
I go to the drugstore and before the guard starts
following me around like I'm gonna steal something
I go to the cosmetics lady and ask her if she has it.
When she says yeah, I say
Can I smell it to see if it's the right one?
Even though the cosmetics ladies roll their eyes at me
they let me smell it.
And for those few seconds, Mama's alive
again.
And I'm remembering
all kinds of good things about her like
the way she laughed at my jokes
even when they were dumb
and the way she sometimes just grabbed me
and hugged me before
I had a chance to get away.
And the way her voice always sounded good
and bad at the same time when she was singing
in the shower.
And her red pocketbook that always had some
tangerine Life Savers inside it for me and Lili

No, I say to the cosmetics lady. It's not the right one.
And then I leave fast.
Before somebody asks to check my pockets
which are always empty 'cause I don't steal.

Now, I'm somebody who likes to have a book in my hands, rather than on tape, but Jacki Woodson's reading enveloped me in Lonnie's story; LOCOMOTION was the first book I grabbed when I got home yesterday.

"Everybody's doing a brand new dance now
Come on baby, do the Locomotion
I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance now
Come on baby, do the locomotion
My little baby sister can do it with ease
It's easier than learning your abc's
So, come on. come on, do the locomotion with me"
--Gerry Goffin & Carole King

LOCOMOTION is a verse novel in which Woodson tells the story of Lonnie Collins Motion (Get it?) who is eleven. He was lucky to survive his premature birth, and then saw his world devastated at seven when his parents were killed in a fire. Next, he is separated from his beloved little sister, Lili. All by himself, Lonnie suffered through the group home ordeal until coming to live with Miss Edna. With the help of his new foster mom, his inspiring teacher, Ms. Marcus, and the poetry through which he reveals his story, Lonnie begins healing from the trauma he's been enduring. There are good friends at school (one who's even a girl), a new big brother, and a regular schedule of visiting with Lili. Life's not all Disneyland, but Lonnie's a survivor who has made the most of his small share of good luck.

PIGEON
People all the time talking about how much they hate pigeons 'cause pigeons fly by and crap on their heads and then somebody always says That's good luck! That's good luck! so you don't feel all stupid going through your pockets tryna find a tissue to wipe it off and you never find one 'cause you don't be carrying tissues like an old lady so you gotta walk up to some old lady with that pigeon crap on your head and ask her for a tissue and she just goes Don't worry, that's good luck like everybody else and it makes you hate those sky roaches 'cause they're everywhere in the city so you better duck if they fly over your head or else... ( )

Lonnie, a foster child, writes poems that explore death, school, family, and feeling different. This would be an excellent book for middle school readers and writers. Locomotion is a perfect resource for children in the foster care system or who have hard lives at home. School counselors or social workers could use Lonnie's struggles as a starting place for discussion. ( )

Woodson, J. (2003). Locomotion. New York: SPEAK.

Locomotion consists of the poems written by eleven-year-old Lonnie, who is living in a foster home, separated from his sister. Through his poems, Lonnie works to rediscover his voice, his home and his family.

Also central to Lonnie’s story is his relationship with his teacher, Ms. Marcus. Since she is a white teacher working in a predominantly black urban school, a teacher could introduce a discussion of race, stereotypes, whiteness and issues of power.

Other issues present include subtle discussions of the Iraq War as well as initial exploration of faith in God.

Activities to do with the book:

Since Lonnie’s poems reference the work of Langston Hughes and Richard Wright, this National Book Award finalist lends itself to discussions of poets and writing. Lonnie often makes comments about the structures of his poems and would be a great entry point for a teacher to discuss poetic forms.

One of Lonnie’s classmates has Sickle Cell Anemia, so the book could be used to trigger a discussion of genetics. Also, while announcing that Sickle Cell Anemia affects African American, Woodson points out that a white teacher is saying this to a predominantly black class, so this could also lead to an early discussion of race and power relations within the classroom environment and beyond.

Favorite Quotes

“…the ideas in my
head go out like a candle and all you see left is this little
string of smoke that disappears real quick
before I even have a change to find out
what it’s trying to say” (p. 1).

“Outside it’s starting to rain and the way the rain comes
down—tap, tapping against the window—gets me to
thinking. Ms. Marcus don’t understand some things
even though she’s my favorite teacher in the world.
Things like my brown, brown arm” (p. 12-13).

“Up here the sky goes on and on like something
you could fall right up into.

And keep falling.
Fall so fast
and so far
and for so long you don’t
have to worry about where you’re gonna live next,

where you gonna be

if somebody all of a sudden
changes their mind about living with you” (p. 25).

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