Keeping the Night Watch [Hardcover]

Hope Anita Smith (Author), E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

So many unanswered questions weigh down thirteen-year-old C.J. as he struggles to understand why his father walked out. His father is back now, though C.J. is not as quick to forgive as the other members of his family. He still feels the weight of responsibility that fell on his shoulders when Daddy was gone, and he’s not prepared to give that up. But C.J.’s anger is making him a stranger in his own home, and instead of life seeming better now that Daddy has returned, it feels worse.

 

Through powerful poems, Hope Anita Smith chronicles the nuanced emotions of a family that is slowly learning to heal and put the pieces back together.

 

Keeping the Night Watch is a 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book and a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5–8—This book picks up where The Way a Door Closes (Holt, 2003) left off. Now that C.J.'s father, who had left the family, has returned, the teen notes that dinners are like "a roomful of strangers" and that he feels weighed down by "brick heavy" questions. Wise beyond his years, eldest son C.J. felt it was his role to "keep the night watch" during his father's absence. Now, he feels displaced in his own home and seethes with anger and resentment. Gradually, everyone starts to move on: C.J. experiences the awkward elation of first love, tries his hand at shaving, and argues and makes up with his best friend. His little sister sends love notes to each family member, and, at book's end, C.J. and his family come together: "We dance on our tears." As in the previous book, Smith masterfully brings her characters to life from the inside out in straightforward free verse. Lewis uses his brilliantly composed, watercolor-and-ink paintings to underscore the strong emotions of the text. This hopeful book celebrates the power of families to heal and overcome hard times. It will speak to the hearts of many readers.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Smith’s The Way a Door Closes (2003), illustrated by Shane Evans, ends when Daddy returns home after leaving his family. In this sequel (with art by Lewis), 13-year-old C. J. struggles with his anger, pain, and sense of betrayal, unable to forgive Daddy, scared to hope or let his feelings show. The words are simple (“Am I safe? Will you stay?”), and the beautiful watercolor pictures of the African American family have the same quiet intensity as pictures in the first book, whether they depict the standoffs between characters or the seething teen all alone. Daddy says he’s sorry, but  can C. J. hear him? Gradually, as things get better, the scene shifts to C. J. having fun with his friend and his crush on a classmate, but at the core is family: “Momma wears a painted-on smile that says everything is okay, now,” but the portrait shows her stress as well as her strength. Although mainly free verse, there’s also a sonnet, and in one chatty 26-line piece, each line begins with a different letter of the alphabet, arranged in successive order. Unlike the first book, there’s nothing idyllic here, even in the stirring climax, in which C. J. surprises everyone, including himself. Grades 5-8. --Hazel Rochman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805072020
• ISBN-13: 978-0805072020
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling narrative poetry, October 25, 2008

By 

Madigan McGillicuddy "Librarian" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping the Night Watch (Hardcover)

Exquisitely crafted narrative poetry, this sequel to "The Way a Door Closes" details what happens in C.J.'s life after his father returns to the family from a prolonged absence. C.J. describes his prodigal father this way: "He is a table with a wobbly leg. It looks reliable but I wouldn't trust it with the good china." Watercolors with stark contrast provide candid portraits of the family. This book, even more than its' predecessor, really touches on issues in black families in America. A wonderful, thought-provoking book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping the Night Watch, April 28, 2008

By 

C. E. Barczykowski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping the Night Watch (Hardcover)

My favorite poem was Zuri's ABC's and Dance With Me.
I really liked the book because most of the time in growing up you feel all crowded and are suffocating in your own family space. But you also learn that its ok to suffocate, just for a while, because when your family is killing you, their killing you with love.

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful story of anger and forgiveness, February 2, 2011

By 

Laura A. Jackson "laurelprincess" (Houston, Tx, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping the Night Watch (Hardcover)

Thirteen year old C.J. became the man of the house when his father walked out on the family. Now that his father is back, C.J. struggles to find not only his place in the family but also forgiveness for his father, who is doing everything in his power to make amends.
Told in free verse poetry, this book tells the journey from fall to spring, from hate to forgiveness, and from separation to unity. The simple words are rich with figurative language. C.J. compares the family conversations to baking, his father's eyes to a white flag of surrender, and the family's security to fine bone-china. Although each poem could stand alone, woven together, they tell the story of a healing family. Offsetting the serious nature of forgiving a father who abandoned him, C.J. also describes his crush on Maya and his nervousness when he's around her. The addition of these poems creates a balanced look at a teenage boy.
The pictures, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, add fill in the blanks left by the simple words. The most compelling picture is the one for the poem entitled "Showdown at the O.K Corral", which pictures C.J. and his father face to face, C.J.'s face angry and his father's face determined. Another picture that speaks volumes accompanies the poem "Light at the end of the Tunnel", which has a dark tunnel with C.J.'s father at the end in white, symbolizing C.J.'s secret hope that at the end, his father will be there as "our sun rising" (Smith 69).
To introduce this book, "If You can't Stand the Heat", which epitomizes C.J.'s anger is a good place to start.
I am mad.
I am the worst kind of mad.
I don't yell.
I don't slam doors.
I don't throw things.
I'm a pot with a lid on,
I keep all my mad inside.
I just let it stew.
I want Byron to be mad, too,
but he isn't.
Says he doesn't want to hold on to mad.
He takes the lid off his pot,
Lets mad go.
Says he wants his family back.
Says he's glad Daddy's home.
I'm mad at Daddy,
But it feels like I'm mad at Byron, too.
We're two different kinds of pots,
Byron and me,
and when it comes to Daddy,
we can't cook together. (Smith 16)
Students can analyze the emotion, the simple sentence structure to convey anger, and the cooking metaphors and then compare it to the final poem "Dance with Me" where the family finally comes together when C.J. dances with his father. "We keep our eyes on Him. We dance on our tears" (Smith 73). After reading this poem, students could write in their Jammin' Journals (journals written in response to music) after listening to the song "Dance with my Father" by Luther Vandross. The journal entries could compare C.J.'s feeling of forgiveness when he dances with his father and the song's sorrow over his mother no longer being able to dance with his father.

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