Systematic Student:
Printz Honor

Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill received a Printz Honor award in 2008, and Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson won a Newbery Honor in 2002.

Both books are biographies written in verse. When I first heard about this idea, I was intrigued. Although I don't always love it, I do enjoy poetry and I've found that I really, really enjoy novels written in free verse (like Ellen Hopkins). I was very interested to see how reading a poetic biography would turn out, and I'm sorry to say that I was quite disappointed.

I read Carver first and I really expected to enjoy myself. By the time I got around to Sylvia, I was no longer expecting much. Some of the poems were thoughtful and insightful and made for interesting reading, but I never felt like I was really gaining that much knowledge about the lives of either GW Carver or Sylvia Plath. I would have much read an actual biography of each individual that then had these poems interspersed throughout the pages. In each book, there were brief notes offering a little additional insight into the person or time period the poem addressed, and I feel like I learned more about their lives, thoughts, and emotions from these tiny blurbs than from the poems, which I doubt was how I'm supposed to feel.

I feel like I'm missing a lot of essential information that is important for a biography to offer. I don't really feel like I know much more about these two people than I did before picking up the books.

Although I didn't particularly enjoy reading either 'biography' I believe I can understand why both the Printz board and the Newbery board decided to award these books an Honor. It is a unique idea that changes the way we view and understand historical figures. But, I don't think they did their subjects justice. Instead of being more interested in the story of their lives, or coming away more knowledgeable than I was before, I merely felt annoyed.

I don't know of any other biographies written in this style, but I believe I'm safe in saying, I won't be reading them.

John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth, a Photobiography by Elizabeth Partridge is not a book I would have chosen to read on my own. I read it because I want to read every Printz Honor and Award, and this book won the Honor in 2006.

I've never been interested in the personal lives of celebrities. I just don't care. So, I wasn't expecting to love this book. And I didn't. But, that was probably more because I wasn't particularly fond of the subject matter than because of the writing or presentation of Partridge. The book is presented as a photobiography, which I generally enjoy. But, John Lennon was not really a person to admire, and I find it hard to enjoy reading any biography if I don't much care for the subject.

I really enjoy the music of The Beatles. I grew up listening to their music with my dad, and my favorites are always able to bring a smile to my face or call up a fond memory. And, there is no doubt about the fact that they changed the face and future of music. But, liking their music doesn't mean I'm terribly interested in their personal histories.

And really, John Lennon is not a person who made it easy to like him. I felt like most of the information related about Lennon was negative. He was moody, felt a huge sense of entitlement, just knew he was so misunderstood, and felt that he was above normal standards of conduct, even before they became super famous. It just got worse after. He wasn't terribly loyal, and turned away from the people who loved him most. He's not a person to look up to or aspire to be like. I find that I respect his music, but have very little, if any, respect for who he was.

Maybe that makes me a bad person, or maybe I'm just another one of those who misunderstands, but I don't really care. He wasn't a nice person, and I don't feel like I have to respect that.

I've decided that awards committees really like the photobiography. There are several photobiographies on the Newbery list, both winners and honors, and then this. The book is well written, well researched, and the information was presented well, but I don't know why it would be widely read, unless you are a huge Beatles or Lennon fan, or are like me and trying to read the whole list.