I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
What
an autumn
football game brought
together,
a summer
beach party tore
apart.
Like lovers in a
fairy-tale,
Jackson and Ava
believed that
they were
destined
to be together-
forever.
A tragic accident.
A dare gone wrong.
How could Ava live with
her guilt?
She wished for
nothing more
than for Jackson to come
back to life. She
never thought
her wish would come
true.
There was only
one problem-
he came back as
a ghost.
Could things
really go back
to being
Ava + Jackson = Forever?
While Ava tries to figure out why Jackson has returned to haunt her after his death, she finds herself being lured in two directions; she is forced to choose between the love she lost and the life she still has ahead of her. While her conscience is telling her to remain faithful to Jackson, her heart is telling her that she must allow life to go on. Ava's ultimate conclusion turns out to reveal a lot more about Jackson and his reasons for beginning a paranormal relationship with her than she could have ever imagined. Although her journey through life after tragedy seems, at times, predictable, what the novel lacks in spontaneity, it more than makes up for in sentiment regarding emotional healing.
In I Heart You, You Heart Me Lisa Schroeder has written an evocative story of love, loss and forgiveness that, from the very beginning, demands the attention of its readers from the very first line of verse. While a novel in verse can sometimes seem, even to avid readers, intimidating or unapproachable, Schroeder's refreshing use of verse not only adds poetic style to her novel but also removes unnecessary details that would have clouded the novel's emotional expression.
All things considered, I Heart You, You Haunt Me is a fantastic choice for young adult readers who either a) cringe at the thought of reading or b) want to introduce themselves to the reading of verse. Because of a brief sexual reference, I would recommend this book for readers in grade 9 and above. Personally I think the novel is geared more towards female readers, however, it can be argued that its themes, which include death, love and guilt, speak to all readers whether male, female, young, or old.
In order to explain the relationship that Ava and Jackson may have shared after his death, here is a clip from the hit ABC series Grey's Anatomy which chronicles the interactions Izzy has with Denny, her dead boyfriend.
6 comments:
This book sounds very interesting. I am so curious to find out why Ava felt guilty for Jayson's death. It appears that this novel touches upon themes that are repetitive in YAL. Thanks for the post.
I noticed you mentioned that it is mostly geared towards young women. Perhaps this book would be difficult to teach in a high school setting with boys. I find that in a high school age boys are more reluctant to pick up a book that they think is gendered. The stigma of boys are tough might close them off to a book that deals with relationships and inner healing. I find that even in schools boys are often taught that boys don't cry. You know?
OK. I love that you added the Denny/ Izzy thing to the end of this, because that is what I was thinking about the entire time I was reading this review. I take it you watch Greys? Don't you hate that it is getting all weird with Denny back? I mean, I love Denny, but...come on.
Anyways, awesome review; I really like how you started it out with the poem.
Shirley-
The reason for her guilt is actually sad because it stems from something that any couple might do to have fun or be goofy.
Priscila-
I definitely think that the book is geared towards girls, but not in an overt way. It chronicles the life of a girl after her boyfriends death, but it also explains the life of the boy before his death. This book could be taught as a way to show how a novel can be writen in verse and still be effective. Or it can be used to teach boys how to be good boyfriends :-).
Lauren-
I am a huge Grey's Anatomy fan! It was so weird because I read this book like the same day that this episode aired and I was like- Perfect!!! I love Denny, but Alex is being so great these days that I want her to snap out of her "situation." I was thinking that all this is happening because she is being written out of the show. I hope not. We shall see. Anyways, the poetry is what really got me. I read the book in one sitting and found that I was completely moved by the novel even without the extra details that would be involved in prose. Each word used to write the book had meaning which was why verse was so effective.
As I was reading the review, I too thought of the Denny/Izzy connection! I laughed out loud when I saw your link to the video. My students watch Grey's Anatomy, so they may actually like reading this book...not sure about me though...the Denny/Izzy story line drives me nuts! :)
another connection is the book "The Lovely Bones." one thought is that this book has sparked a whole genre of writing about death.
sorry--i can't connect to grey's anatomy--i have to work on that particular text-to-world connection. but "Heaven Can Wait," from the 1970's, shows that this theme isn't new.
Cheers,
TP
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