By Leslea Newman
Image Credit: www.goodreads.com
1. Bibliographic
Newman, Lesléa. OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD. Somerville, MA: Candlewick, 2012. Print. ISBN 9780763658076
2. Plot Summary
This novel in verse is written about the death of Matthew Shepard who was a gay college student. Matthew was tricked into riding with two other young men. These men took Matthew out to a desolate place and beat him with the handle of their gun. Matthew was tied to a fence and left to die. Eighteen hours later a bike rider discovers him.
3. Critical Analysis
OCTOBER MOURNING is a novel written in verse from different points of view including the fence (before and after the event), stars, a doe, a student, a bartender, and a mother. This novel in verse includes haiku, rhymed couplets, an alphabet poem, and many more.
The author includes an introduction, afterword, notes, explanation of poetic forms, and resources. In the introduction we learn that the author was going to the University of Wyoming in Laramie to be the keynote speaker during the Gay Awareness Week. This was also the college that Matthew Shepard was attending. In the afterword, the author tells that she tried to imagine the last hours of his life and how his story has been with her since her visit to the University of Wyoming. In the notes we learn that each person's point of view was taking from various sources including the New York Times and several press releases.
This novel in verse was a quick read and that included much emotion. In the poem titled THE DOE "I saw a beaten up broken down bent over bruised battered busted boy." Many of the poems include sorrowful emotion especially from THE FENCE and A CHORUS OF PARENTS. The author also uses her imagination to create Matthew's thoughts and feelings before he lost consciousness.
OCTOBER MOURNING is a novel written in verse from different points of view including the fence (before and after the event), stars, a doe, a student, a bartender, and a mother. This novel in verse includes haiku, rhymed couplets, an alphabet poem, and many more.
The author includes an introduction, afterword, notes, explanation of poetic forms, and resources. In the introduction we learn that the author was going to the University of Wyoming in Laramie to be the keynote speaker during the Gay Awareness Week. This was also the college that Matthew Shepard was attending. In the afterword, the author tells that she tried to imagine the last hours of his life and how his story has been with her since her visit to the University of Wyoming. In the notes we learn that each person's point of view was taking from various sources including the New York Times and several press releases.
This novel in verse was a quick read and that included much emotion. In the poem titled THE DOE "I saw a beaten up broken down bent over bruised battered busted boy." Many of the poems include sorrowful emotion especially from THE FENCE and A CHORUS OF PARENTS. The author also uses her imagination to create Matthew's thoughts and feelings before he lost consciousness.
4. Review Excepts
~BOOKLIST: "Written with love, anger, regret, and other profound emotions, this is a truly important book that deserves the widest readership, not only among independent readers but among students in a classroom setting, as well. Most importantly, the book will introduce Matthew Shepard to a generation too young to remember the tragic circumstances of his death."
5. Connections
~Other books by Leslea Newman include
STILL LIFE WITH BUDDY
MOMMY, MAMA, AND ME
DADDY, PAPA, AND ME
STILL LIFE WITH BUDDY
MOMMY, MAMA, AND ME
DADDY, PAPA, AND ME
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