Crossing Stones [Hardcover]

Helen Frost (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

Maybe you won’t rock a cradle, Muriel.

Some women seem to prefer to rock the boat.

Eighteen-year-old Muriel Jorgensen lives on one side of Crabapple Creek. Her family’s closest friends, the Normans, live on the other. For as long as Muriel can remember, the families’ lives have been intertwined, connected by the crossing stones that span the water. But now that Frank Norman—who Muriel is just beginning to think might be more than a friend—has enlisted to fight in World War I and her brother, Ollie, has lied about his age to join him, the future is uncertain. As Muriel tends to things at home with the help of Frank’s sister, Emma, she becomes more and more fascinated by the women’s suffrage movement, but she is surrounded by people who advise her to keep her opinions to herself. How can she find a way to care for those she loves while still remaining true to who she is?

Written in beautifully structured verse, Crossing Stones captures nine months in the lives of two resilient families struggling to stay together and cross carefully, stone by stone, into a changing world.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–10—The children of the Norman and Jorgensen families have grown up together, with their family farms located on either side of Crabapple Creek. In 1917, the outbreak of World War I shatters their idyllic lives: strong-willed Muriel opposes it, but the two young men, Frank and her brother, Ollie, enlist and are soon sent overseas. Muriel's lively personality comes alive in free-verse poems that roam across the page like the free-flowing waters of the creek. "My mind sets off at a gallop/down that twisty road, flashes by 'Young Lady,'/hears the accusation in it—as if it's/a crime just being young, and 'lady'/is what anyone can see I'll never be/…." The poems of Ollie and friend Emma are written in "cupped-hand" sonnets; their rounded shapes resemble the crossing stones of the creek and record their growing love. While the young men find themselves amidst the horrors of trench warfare, their families attempt to cope with their absence. Muriel travels to Washington, DC, to be with her aunt Vera, a suffragist who is recovering from a hunger strike; joins picketers at the White House; and helps out in a settlement house. Back home, youngest sister Grace comes down with influenza. Frost's warmly sentimental novel covers a lot of political, social, and geographical ground, and some of the supporting characters are not fully fleshed out. But this is Muriel's story, and her determined personality and independence will resonate with readers, especially those who've enjoyed the works of Karen Hesse.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA END

Review

“The distinct voices of the characters lend immediacy and crispness to a story of young people forced to grow up too fast.” —Starred, Horn Book

“Frost skillfully pulls her characters back from stereotype with their poignant, private, individual voices and nuanced questions, which will hit home with contemporary teens, about how to recover from loss and build a joyful, rewarding future in an unsettled world.”—Starred, Booklist

“With care and precision, Frost deftly turns plainspoken conversations and the internal monologues of her characters into stunning poems that combine to present three unique and thoughtful perspectives on war, family, love and loss. Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, this is one to savor.”—Starred, Kirkus Reviews

“Frost’s warmly sentimental novel covers a lot of political, social, and geographical ground . . . . But this is Muriel’s story, and her determined personality and independence will resonate with readers.” —School Library Journal

“A thoughtful read.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Both a great story and a perfectly-worded poetic work of art.” —Richie’s Picks

 

“This beautifully written, gently told story can be used for classroom discussion in social studies and English, or simply for leisure reading.” —VOYA

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374316538
• ISBN-13: 978-0374316532
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, October 4, 2009

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossing Stones (Hardcover)

Muriel had a strong opinion about many issues and did not hesitate to speak her mind, even though social norms at the time still discouraged women from publically expressing their views. She despaired at the thought of her dear friend Frank and thousands of other young American men going off to fight in the Great War. She also admired her Aunt Vera's brave fight in the women's suffrage movement for women to gain the right to vote. And although she was nearing the end of her teenage years, Muriel bristled at expectations that she soon get married and settle down to a life of raising children and doing household work.

So much changed when Frank left for Europe, and when her own brother Ollie lied about his age in order to enlist and fight in the war. Women across the country, including Muriel's own mother, took on new jobs that had hitherto been considered the domain of men. Muriel was left doing an extraordinary amount of work at home "for the duration," all the while praying for Frank and Ollie's safety and continuing to question the necessity and wisdom of the war. It would take more life-altering events, including a surprise visit to the suffragists' picket lines in Washington DC and the spread of influenza to her own family, for Muriel to make some important decisions about her own place in this tumultuous world.

Told in carefully-structured verse, this novel tells a mesmerizing story about a strong-minded young woman struggling to speak out at a time when women could not vote for the politicians who made decisions about war and about the loved ones who fought in that war. Through her poems, Helen Frost provides a unique way of seeing the main characters' thoughts as well as the economic and political forces shaping their lives.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: CROSSING STONES, October 8, 2009

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossing Stones (Hardcover)

"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling, looking for the key to set me free" -- Joni Mitchell

From what I've gotten to know of Muriel Jorgensen, I somehow get the feeling that she would really be into Joni Mitchell.

Muriel's a contemplative young woman who clearly has taken her studies seriously. She has been connecting dots, experiencing some a-ha moments, and paying attention to her radical Aunt Vera, who is a working woman over in Chicago.

Muriel is perceiving some serious inconsistencies between the good line that the President who has taken us into war talks, in regard to the undemocratic behavior of those countries that we consider enemies, and what is actually going on here at home, in so-called democratic America.

Is it really unpatriotic to speak out in dissent during wartime, to accuse the President of being no better than our enemies? Is it a slap in the face to Americans in uniform?

CROSSING STONES is the story of four teenagers and two interconnected families -- the Jorgensens and the Normans -- living on adjoining farms that are separated by a creek and joined by crossing stones. But the borders of Muriel's idyllic Midwest farm life are breached when the news that young men are getting sent to war hits home for both families. Before you know it, Muriel's underage brother, Ollie, and next door neighbor Frank Norman have both gone overseas. Meanwhile, there are protests and arrests in the nation's capital and, to top it all off, there are signs of an impending flu pandemic.

But there is no Joni Mitchell for Muriel, because CROSSING STONES is set ninety years ago during the Great War when "W" stood for Wilson, and the protests outside the White House gates, in which Muriel's Aunt Vera is participating and for which she is getting arrested, focus on women demanding the right of self-determination -- the right to vote.

(Thank goodness things are so much better now in 2009, as we wait to see whether there will actually be a second woman seated on the U.S. Supreme Court before the only one there now is forced to retire for health reasons.)

CROSSING STONES is a great piece of historical fiction and a great coming of age story with some big surprises, some hints of budding romance, some tragedy, a hunger strike, and The Flu.

But this is Helen Frost writing, so that is all just the beginning of the story.

One of my oldest, dearest friends in the world is a craftsperson who knits sweaters that are works of art and, now and again, works in various other artistic media. I have witnessed the time and focus and planning and more time that goes into the execution of her finished projects. It is a process of which I am in awe.

It is that process that I think of when I look at how Helen Frost crafts one of her verse novels to be both a great story and a perfectly-worded poetic work of art.

CROSSING STONES is a verse novel featuring three narrators: Muriel, her brother Ollie, and her best friend, Frank's sister Emma. As explained in her author's note:

"I've created a formal structure to give the sense of stepping from stone to stone across a flowing creek...The relatively free style of Muriel's poems represents the creek flowing over the stones as it pushes against its banks. Ollie's and Emma's poems represent the stones...They are 'cupped-hand sonnets,' fourteen line poems in which the first line rhymes with the last line, the second line rhymes with the second-to-last, and so on...In Ollie's poems the rhymes are the beginning words of each line, and in Emma's poems they are the end words...To give the sense of stepping from one stone to the next, I have used the middle rhyme of one sonnet as the outside rhyme of the next..."

I love when a thoughtful and well-educated young person becomes a river of change. Muriel's search for what life may offer beyond the cycle of seasons and farm chores illuminates a long-ago step in the historical quest that continues for American women today in the Twenty-first century. Throughout her travels, Muriel is so authentic and likeable in how she sometimes second-guesses herself, how she comfortably embraces her nurturing instincts while quietly and firmly rejecting her mother's antiquated thinking about women's roles, and how, in the face of chauvinistic drivel, she is a girl who is not afraid to take a punch.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars poetic and poignant, January 14, 2010

By 

Kirsten G. Cutler (Santa Rosa, California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crossing Stones (Hardcover)

This book should win an award. It is outstanding.

Beautiful poetic swathes of text reverberate with emotion as four young people from two close- knit families describe how they feel about World War I, both on the home front and on the front lines. The lyrical and moving text is presented as concrete verse and the few words are powerful. Poignant voices ask the hard questions including: "Who does God belong to, whose mighty fortress is he, if people sing that hymn in two languages, and in those same languages defend this war?" at the funeral of one of the young people. Muriel is eighteen, and in her last year of high school. Her close friend Frank enlists and is sent overseas: she is not sure how she feels about him or what she wants to do when she graduates. Her brother Ollie is underage, but he runs away from home to enlist. Her best friend Emma is Frank's younger sister, and she knows what she wants to do: she wants to marry Ollie. This is wonderful historical fiction that also feels very contemporary.

Review from personal copy.