Poetry Friday

I've never been
to a funeral
until today.

I see
dazzling arrangements of
red, yellow, and purple flowers
with long, green stems.

I see
a stained-glass window with
a white dove,
a yellow sun,
a blue sky.

I see
a gold cross,
standing tall,
shiny,
brilliant.

And I see
black.

Black dresses.
Black pants.
Black shoes.
Black bibles.

Black is my favorite color.
Jackson asked me about it one time.

"Ava, why don't you like pink?
Or yellow?
Or blue?"

"I love black," I said.
"It suits me."

"I suit you," he said.

And then he kissed me.

I'm not so sure
I love black
anymore.

So begins the verse novel I Heart You, You Haunt Me Lisa Schroeder

Ava's boyfriend Jackson is dead and Ava feels responsible, she's haunted by his death. Then, she's haunted by his ghost. It's hard to move on when he's right there, just out of sight, but leaving messages on the bathroom mirror and turning on the radio to your song.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I would have loved it at the age of 13 and mostly, I enjoyed reading it. However, I had issues with Ava and Jackson's relationship. It was very Bella-and-Edward. I mean, Ava finally gets out of the house and hangs out with her friends and Jackson's ghost totally trashes her room. He did the same sort of stuff when he was alive and Ava loves him for it. Ew.

And then there's my whole wishy-washy-ness on verse novels in the first place. There wasn't a lot of actual poetry in this, more terse prose with odd line breaks. That said though, it worked. The terseness, the brevity, the odd line breaks, all worked for Ava's voice as she tries to deal with what's going on.

So, would I give this to an adult friend who reads a lot of YA? No.
Would I give it to a junior high girl who lives romance? In a heartbeat.

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted at Live.Love.Explore. Go enjoy!