After the Death of Anna Gonzales [Hardcover]

Terri Fields (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

A powerful look at the effects of one girl’s suicide on her high school

"I can feel
The whispering of the hallway walls
Growing louder as the groups gather.
Each clique adding to its morning input.

“Did you hear?”
“Who told you?”
“Do you think it’s really true?”

New at this school,
I stand alone.
Watching . . ."

Brutally honest and authentic in tone, this collection of voices centers on the suicide of high school freshman Anna Gonzales. Each piece, read alone, portrays a classmate’s or teacher’s personal reaction to the loss, taken hard by some, by others barely noticed. Read together, the poems create a richly textured and moving testimony to the rippling effects of one girl’s devastating choice. Terri Fields has written a thought-provoking, important work that resonates with both pain and hope. This is a book that will stay with readers long after they put it down.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Fields's (Danger in the Desert) 47 poems, five adults and 42 fellow high school students respond to the death of freshman Anna Gonzales, whose suicide note closes this disappointing volume. The first voice is that of a new student who overhears hushed conversations in the hallway; ironically, she offers readers more clues to what's going on than even Anna's best friend, Alexis ("Somewhere, buried in all those words,/ Must have been a meaning I didn't understand," Alexis says, referring to a language she and Anna had invented together). Many of the poems rely heavily on stereotypes: a cheerleader expresses her hope that Anna's death won't interfere with a homecoming rally; a smooth-talking student wonders, "A suicide./ What's my slant?" Other students seize Anna's death as an opportunity: a boy uses it as an excuse to avoid football practice, another student considers jockeying for Anna's seat in Spanish class, across from the boy she likes. The author does not describe the atmosphere at the high school nor reveal the manner of Anna's suicide. Most of the speakers are so self-absorbed that readers will likely see why Anna felt invisible ("I will slip away,/ Making little fuss./ .../ Never pretty or popular enough to matter," reads her suicide note), but because none of these poems penetrates any one character, Anna's death may, unfortunately, leave as little impact on readers as it does on her peers. Ages 12-17.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-Basketball games go on. Classes continue. Teens borrow their parents' cars. But all of this occurs without Anna Gonzales. When the high school freshman takes her own life, word spreads fast throughout the corridors and classrooms. Some students knew Anna, one sat behind her in math, one wonders why she never noticed Anna's pain. This series of loosely interwoven poems provides quick, yet insightful, glimpses into the minds, thoughts, and hearts of those left behind. Readers will first meet Anna's classmates and the adults around her, learning through firsthand views how a suicide impacts others. Athlete Damon Reingold posits, "The game doesn't always go your way./Forget fair./Feel forgotten./But damn it, Anna,/You don't stop playing." Carrie Sells wishes she could "wrap my arms/Around my world/So that I can get some control over it-." Tiffany Gibson uses whiskey to face her peers, and says, "-I die a little each day as I live through it." Only at the end do readers meet Anna through her suicide note. It's a quiet, angry, and honest missive, her good night to the world. If only she knew how it would affect others. Readers will gain some important insight into the serious issue of teen suicide through this treatment of the topic.
Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080507127X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805071276
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,237,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What can we conclude?, April 14, 2004

By 

Kristi L. Kinney (Buckeye, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After the Death of Anna Gonzales (Hardcover)

This is a fine book. I have read selections from it aloud to my students and they loved it. I think that many of the poems in this book are wonderful. Mrs. Fields is able to get into the minds of the characters and we are treated to many rich and varied voices. Mrs. Fields visited our school and spoke to our students sharing much of her experiences in writing the book, which was very interesting.
The book's purpose is to steer young people away from suicide as a permanent answer to a temporary problem.
What I would like to address is, does the book fulfill its purpose? In other words, what does the book really teach us about not committing suicide? It seems that by the time we finish reading we feel sad and think Anna should not have killed herself. The problem is that we learn that the only reason not to commit suicide is because of the possible adverse effect it will have on others. Is this answer good enough? I don't think so.
Many of the characters in the book tell the reader that they are hurt and confused because of Anna's death. So, because of this "grief of others", one shouldn't escape his or her pain and confusion by suicide. Isn't this only a temporary answer to a desperate problem?
Don't get me wrong; I do believe that suicide is an unacceptable, permanent, and selfish answer to a temporary problem. But aren't the suicidal entitled to some real and concrete answers? They need to know true answers that don't change with the situation. There are nice sounding phrases from the characters like these: "you don't stop playing.", "Anna, who had health, Chose death. How could you?", and "How could you check out before the good stuff ever started?" These solutions are situational. Basically, the characters that state them are in a situation where they see no reason right now to commit suicide. If their situation changed, it is probable their answers would too. Statistics show that almost all young people seriously think about suicide sometime in their life. This is because of the situation they are in at the time. They must have a higher reason to keep them from committing it.
The flaw I am writing about is that there seems to be no people of faith in Mrs. Field's book. How can this be? Is there no one with answers that go beyond this life? Not one character gives a grander perspective as to why we are here on earth or a real purpose for living. I find that strange because I run into people of faith all the time, coworkers, students, friends, and acquaintances.
In this real world and in the book it is easy to see that selfishness runs rampant in the human race in one-form or another, but no one in the book believes in a "higher cause."
There are a few mentions of a "God" in the book. One is the idea that God makes girls with nice bodies and bad senses of humor, and another mention is a last desperate gasp of confusion, as in "Oh God..."
Again, why was Anna supposed to choose life? Was it just to keep all these people content?
Would the answers that the characters offer in the book solve a suicidal situation like the following? "I don't care anymore. So what if people will be upset if I kill myself...isn't that just tough for them? I'm sick of feeling this way...with this emptiness inside. I just want it to stop, I gotta get out."
Granted, that example is a selfish and spiteful solution to a selfish problem. Does the book give a solution to this suicidal problem? I don't think it even comes close.
It is a pleasant enough book but I do not really see it having any lasting answers. The book doesn't go far enough.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent poetry collection!, June 27, 2006

By 

kerowyn (South Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After the Death of Anna Gonzales (Hardcover)

I hate poetry, but I know others like it so I decided to add a poetry unit to my teaching plans (8th grade). We had just finished Tears of a Tiger by Draper (another excellent read!) and it blended the units beautifully. Even though I majored in literature I never really got into poetry, but like Make Lemonade by Wolff, this set told a story. I loved the way you see so many points of view--and they're so REAL. I definitely recommend this book to junior high-high school level students. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Give it a chance, April 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: After the Death of Anna Gonzales (Hardcover)

okay, after the death of anna gonzales was one of the greatest books i have ever read. not just because of the unbelievably shocking and true poems, but because we used the book as our winter play at my high school. the director was unbelievable, each actors character was made up of three of the original characters in the book. i played lynn helter, a bitchy cheerleader thats worried the suicide will interfear with the pep assembly. and not just reading but acting out the emotions and issues that this girl had was unbelievable. terri feilds has incredable currage and power to write about such an important issue that impacts american teenagers everyday. many people in my school had problems with a high school doing a play about this topic, but i was overjoyed to do a play about this. its better to do a play like anna gonzales that effects the life of people, than a play like lion king or a christmas carol and get 400 people to come see it a night, but it doesnt offect anyone.