Stay

Katherine Lawrence

Description

Winner, 2017 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for Children’s Poetry

Millie is eleven going on twelve when her life is upended by her parents' decision to separate. Her mother gets a new boyfriend, and her father moves into a new place: an apartment with a big sign on the door that says NO DOGS ALLOWED. Since there's nothing Millie wants more than a dog of her own, that seems like the biggest blow of all.

Hoping to get her parents back together-not just for her sake, but for the sake of her future dog-Millie is elated when her father moves back in after a short while. She can't understand why her parents aren't happy at the reconciliation until she learns the truth: her father is back because he has been diagnosed with cancer.

Told in verse by acclaimed Canadian poet Katherine Lawrence, Stay is a moving, touching, and yet often humorous portrait of a family in a time of crisis, whose pain is filtered through the thoughts and actions of an eleven-year-old girl. Stay captures the essence of what it means to grow up, confront your fears, support your family, and share in the wild optimism that only youth can harbour.

Sujets

• Children's
• Dog
• Children's poetry
• Dogs
• Animals
• Family
• Séparation

Informations

• Publié par: Shadowpaw Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781989398388
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

PRAISE FOR STAY
BY KATHERINE LAWRENCE



Winner of a 2017
Moonbeam Children’s Book Award
for Children’s Poetry


“At first glance, Stay appears to be modest in length, form, and story. But within the spare pages of this middle-grade novel in verse is a powerful narrative about a family in transition, and the young girl at its centre who needs to form something new and whole from what remains . . . Though the plot of Stay is relatively straightforward, Katherine Lawrence’s writing is not. Lawrence is an accomplished author with several books of poetry for adults to her name; here she pens a novel for young readers so profound and complex in its voice and subtle in its story that multiple readings are necessary to appreciate all the nuances . . . Stay might be a quick read, but it’s a book that should be savoured.” – Quill & Quire (starred review)


“While a child can teach a dog to ‘Stay,’ a child cannot cause parents to stay together. This free-verse novel is a powerful portrayal of a nuclear family that is coming apart . . . Highly Recommended.” – Canadian Review of Materials

“ Stay is brilliantly written; each word serves its purpose and powerfully paints the characters. The format is wonderfully unique. It manages to be both accessible to children and lyrically sophisticated at the same time. Heavy subject matter is treated with a deft hand.” — Judges, Children’s Literature Award, 2018 Saskatchewan Book Awards (Finalist)

Katherine Lawrence’s middle grade novel-in-verse, Stay , evokes the changeable emotions of eleven-year-olds and the enduring truths of community. Here is a world of families in transition, poor puppy training, and the possibility of discovering something new within the tatters of the old. Filled with charm and world play, Stay is a hopeful response to our modern struggles . . . It’s everyday magic—stirred up, made bright.” — Judges, Saskatchewan Arts Board Poetry Award, 2018 Saskatchewan Book Awards (Finalist)

STAY
By Katherine Lawrence

Second Edition
Published 2022 by
Shadowpaw Press Reprise
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
www.shadowpawpress.com

First Edition
Published 2017 by Coteau Books

Copyright © 2017 by Katherine Lawrence
All rights reserved

All characters and events in this book are fictitious.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions of this book, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted material.

Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-989398-37-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-989398-38-8

Cover design by Tania Craan
Interior design by Edward Willett
Table of Contents Halo Hello Fines Accumulating Daily Sent Punctuation Stop Asking Me Questions (1) Jane Stop Asking Me Questions (2) Trick or Treat Stop Asking Questions (3) No Return Address They Finally Agree on Something Sent Secret Agent Divorce I Spy Sent A Call to the Animal Shelter Dad Behind the Ears Cemetery Dream New Math Sent Me Me Me In Three Simple Words Listen, Billy Boom Times Social Studies, Assignment #9 By Millie Patterson Silver Lining Stop Asking Questions (#4) Dog Names Don’t Visit Me Anymore Sent Uncaged Billy at School Neighbourhood Gossip Vanilla Snow Ghost Dollars and Sense Payola Playing Baseball Saturday Afternoon Sunday Morning In Miss Berry Wants New Information The Journey Heart’s Desire In My Dream a Woman In Classified Lady in a Red Plaid Shirt Mrs. Red Plaid Shirt Not Fair Flock of Friends Overhead Thank-you Gift Mrs. Irene Photo Gallery Thunderhead In Tara Says Not to Get My Hopes Up Done Deal Hold With Two Hands I Drove to the Lumberyard with Mum Mum Behind the Wheel In Growing Pains Arrivals and Departures Good Fortune Rise and Shine On the End of a Leash Our House Has Insomnia Backyard to China Memory Work Housebreaking I Hate to Admit It Heart to Heart Careful What You Wish For Dark Shadows Mount Patterson Tender Loving Care Down the Hall Homecoming Sous Chef Question without an Answer Listen William (Billy), Please? Ragged Heart Something Wrong Positive Negative In Training Basic Commands Facts Four Plus One Spring into Summer Acknowledgements About the Author ALSO FROM SHADOWPAW PRESS
For Rachel and Anna
Halo Hello

i)
My twin is buried in a wooden box
lined with white silk
soft as dandelion fluff, the stuff I blow
to the wind, to you,
Billy
it’s me, Millie, your weather girl reporting graveside
about the latest family squall.
Did you hear the storm last night?
 
Yells of thunder from Dad, lightning in Mum’s voice,
flash of tempers followed by silence—
sudden crack that jolted me upright: Mum wants
a divorce.
 
Tears like rain—his, hers, mine. I listened for Tara
but our big sister is deaf to everything but her
own playlist.
 
Billy, some nights I hide under blankets,
wish we were twinned in one bunk, tucked away
far away, riding that wild wave,
a roller coaster heave-ho that swooshed me
nine minutes head-first toodle-oo adios au revoir
your fist the knuckles at the back of my knee,
the two of us a tangled knot of legs hands toes—
 
I held my breath as the doctor slapped my back,
cried for you, little brother,
but you didn’t open your mouth,
didn’t fill your lungs
with air.
 
Billy, you are the sun,
no ordinary star.
 
Hey, perk up . There’s chocolate cake in our future.
We’re eleven going on twelve next month.
My legs longer than my jeans,
feet fast as jackrabbits.
 
ii)
 
And you, Billy? Have you wings?
Can you text me from heaven?
Halo, hello.
 
C’mon, let’s ride ’em, bronco, hop on my bike.
I’ll stuff the soccer ball in my basket
race down Webster’s Hill
over the footbridge near the cemetery.
 
Do you feel the wild grasses tickle my bare ankles?
Hear crickets hum the air? Look
I can see your headstone from the bridge
if I balance both my feet on the seat like a trick rider
rodeo queen (wearing a stoopid helmet).
 
Question: Do you get goosebumps when I trace
your stone letters?
WILLIAM ‘BILLY’ PATTERSON.
Me too.
 
Guess what? Nobody knows how often
we practice my kick—
 
knock-knock soccer-ball bounce—your headstone
a goalie from the other side.
 
Fines Accumulating Daily
 
Our house is a library, books
spilling off shelves, leaning
 
towers of fact and fiction
encyclopedia sneezing dust— Ah-choo!
 
Dad reads science with a pipe full of tobacco,
Mum drags history to bed.
 
Tara’s addicted to vampires, blood-
dripping soft-cover horrors.
 
I prefer to read family mysteries,
mother’s text messages, sent
 
and received, her cell
a table of contents.
 
Snooping? Spying?
Try and stop me.
 
How else can I figure out
why Dad moved to the basement.
 
His bed the scratchy green couch
beside a furnace that snores.
 
Sent
 
Darling,
I’m running out of patience.
Michael refuses to move out of the basement.
How much longer can I keep you a secret?
xox
 
 
In
 
Sweetheart,
He’s putting in time until he can find an apartment.
I went through the same thing, remember?
Stay beautiful, beautiful.
Love you.
x


Punctuation
 
I’ve got
the longest
ponytail
in class,
a blonde
question
mark
curling
my
spine.
 
If my hair
could ask,
would Mum
brush
and comb
the answer?
 
Sweep my suspicions
into an updo?
 
Or braid
and tie
another lie?
 
Stop Asking Me Questions (1)
 
Billy, you’re in my head, and you’re making it hurt.