Stories in Poetic form Fiction - 1

POETIC FICTION TO CHECK OUT!

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Let's start with one of my favorites!

Reaching For Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer  

Sadly this is the first work of fiction that I read in poetic form.  Oh yes, I read some in school. We all had the same basic curriculum and those of us of a certain age even had to memorized the Song of Hiawatha.  (Fun Fact - The Song of Hiawatha that we memorized is a tiny portion of an entire book written in the same name and poetic style. )

I was a children's librarian and one of the duties of the librarian is to reshelf books.  There is usually staff and volunteers for that but it's never enough and we each spent a few hours each day reshelfing. Another job of the librarian is to read the books in our department so that we can discuss them with patrons as well as suggest titles and authors they might enjoy.  This one particular afternoon there were three of us working.  Karen K, like me, was grandfathered into the position of Children's Librarian, as neither of us had MLS degrees but our supervisor, Karen D was a career MLS Librarian.

Each of us had carts of books, presorted and ready to put back into their places on our shelves.  Take a book off the cart, flip through it quickly and place on the shelf.  (Librarians are always checking stats on the books as well as publication dates.  If a book isn't of interest of our patrons then it can be replaced! There are only so many feet of shelf space!)

I picked up Reaching For Sun and quickly noticed it was in poetic form and I was in juvenile fiction.  "Karen (D)", I asked, "why is this book here? I think there may have been a mistake!"  I looked closer at the title page of information.  "It says fiction but it's poetry.  Shouldn't it be in the 800s?"

Karen D. came over to where I was, took the book from me, flipping through it, then back to the title page and replied, "I don't know. Why don't you read it and get back with me." And so I did.

The next day, Oh My God, I was hooked! I gushed over the book with the other Karens and anyone who would listen. I still love this book and recommend it constantly!  It was my first book of poetic fiction!   I highly recommend it!  There is so much emotion in this book.  The word pictures in the free style vignettes quickly and easily builds pictures in your mind.

I do recommend reading the back cover and inside covers before starting the book.  This will prepare you for what is to come.  Also, in poetic fiction, it is very important to read the book like any fictional story, from page one to page two and so on... do not skip around. The author is building you a story from beginning to end.

Look for Reaching For Sun online or at your local library.

While it's not a new book, and may be a little difficult to find, it's still one of my favorites!