Very well written book and you can always find yourself comparing yourself to the book ( )

Seven teenagers going through various personal trials such as sexual identity crisis, pregnancy, and gang violence all find refuge in the home of a generous man. That house becomes known as Keesha’s House, Keesha being the first teen to tell others of this safe zone. This is a must read for every teenager. The peoms are easy to understand and pull the reader into the lives of the teens dipicted. ( )

in a sentence: A poetic journey through the challenging lives of 7 teenagers.

Coming from a non-poetry fan, this book was incredibly easy to read and follow. Each poem is written by a different teenager (as portrayed by Helen Frost), but they are all connected. They write about their struggles at home, school, and work in a way that is easy to follow and keeps the reader interested and hanging on for more. I was sucked in immediately by the use of language, conversation, and range of emotion expressed in the different poems. All of the poems are unique to the teenager's character they express, and is consistent throughout the novel.

The use of the open-ended poem to keep the story moving was interesting at first. I thought I would have a hard time keeping the characters straight and their situations in order, but I had no problem at all. The writing is clear, the poems are excellent, and the emotions expressed through them is awesome. An interesting twist that came twice in the novel were the poems from the parents or concerned adults. Their point of view was presented in poetic form as well, and up to that point the reader had only heard the teen point of view. The author's use of Keesha's house as an image to represent safety and acceptance was interesting, considering from all other viewpoints it would be seen as dangerous (the man who owns the house) and unsafe (teens living alone) and illegal. The author touches on the hardships and different scenarios faced by teens, and the impossible struggle they are asked to face - all while giving them a completely unique voice. ( )

I found this collection of poetry very enthralling and written as if they were written by young adults or adolescents who had the problems. Helen Frost uses two traditional forms of poetry to show students that the patterns can be modified to allow students to use this mode of writing to talk about their lives. Our students who need help often need different forms of writing to convey what they need to say. I really enjoyed reading the poetry and compare how the writing conveys some of the same ideas found in novels such as Luna and other novels. I also was happy to see that many of the young people found a place where they could be safe and still attend school. They did not have to pay if they could not afford anything. It is in homes like this that young people can come to terms with their problems and begin a move to independence or work things out with their parents. ( )

Alternating narrators share their stories about how they came to Keesha's house when they needed a place to stay. Each narrator is a high school student with a different trouble. Stephie's pregnant, Harris was disowned when his father found out he's gay, Dontay is a foster kid whose foster family doesn't seem to care... The neat thing is that instead of free verse, the poems are written in two different traditional forms. Poems from the kids' points of view are written in sestina (a French form) and poems from the adults' point of view are written as sonnets. A note about the poetic forms used is included at the end of the book. ( )