ODE TO A NOBODY

A tornado influences Quinn to become a poet during an already unstable eighth grade year.

Quinn’s older brother, the star of the family, has left for college; her parents are constantly arguing, possibly over her terrible grades; and her longtime (and once best) friend, Jack, who shares her love for skateboarding and gaming, seems more interested in Jade, the new girl in town. What else could go wrong this year? A tornado that rips through her house. It’s also National Poetry Month, and Quinn’s English class has been tasked to write a poem a day; her poems become the basis of this work. Told in segments taking place before, during, and after the tornado and in a variety of formats, the verse not only reflects all the changes in the presumably White 13-year-old’s life, but how she’s reacting to them internally. Amid the chaos, there are beautiful turns of phrase (“Houses spill themselves into yards, / cough their curtains out their windows / as if they’ve grown tired of their people”) and moments of kindness when Quinn’s community rallies together. She realizes that the force of the tornado has altered her in more ways than one, encouraging her to become a poet, set new goals, make new friends, and adapt to family shifts. In turn, as Quinn learns the process of writing, readers follow her own life revisions.

A blend of lovely writing and insightful middle school dynamics.