Customer Reviews

Keesha's House (Michael L Printz Honor Book (Awards))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Years ago, young Keesha ran away from home, from her verbally abusive, alcoholic father. Since then, she has found comfort in the home of a local resident, Joe, who had a large house and an even larger heart. Joe provided Keesha with a roof over her head and a fresh start in life. Now it's Keesha's turn to give back. As she meets young people in trouble, she invites them to Joe's house, so that they may have a chance to sort out life's problems. Though unconventional and not in line with the state's plans for runaways, Keesha's solution is helping many local teenagers, including Stephanie who is pregnant, Dontay, who is a runaway from foster care, and Harris, a young man whose family will not accept that he is gay. We eventually watch these characters meet and learn from each other. The tragic ending serves to remind us that there's not always a happy ending, but success comes from making the most of your life.

Helen Frost has created a wise and thoughtful character in young Keesha; however, she's not perfect, which makes her more believable and more likeable. When Stephanie is accepted back into her parents' home despite her pregnancy, Keesha's comments reflect the jealousy you'd expect from a 14-year-old who always hoped that her own father would come looking for her. All poems in the book are written in sestinas and sonnets, and each contains multicultural references that will connect the readers to the characters and their environment. The situations are real and prevalent in society, and even though they're sometimes uncomfortable to talk about and read about, young readers from ages 15 on up will appreciate each character's candid, poetic narration.

In this poem, the lives of six troubled kids entwine. Wrapping around each other like the words to a song, or maybe more like a dance, their words work hard to make everything come out right. The fear of a teen pregnancy and it's consequences to both teens, foster care, DUI, being gay, an abusive stepfather, and the words Ms. Frost uses to convey everything are spare and concise and beautiful.
Surely a Printz Award contender.

Now, I am not one who traditionally likes to read poetry, but I checked this book out from the library and finished it by the end of the day, and not only that but I found it to be quite a delight. The only problem is that it seemed the book went too fast and didn't focus enough on each character and their lives at the house, or afterwards for that matter. However, I would still reccomend this book to all my friends

unless you have to read for school which I did. I enjoy reading,
and I really enjoy poetry. When I heard the plot for this book
I was looking forward to reading it because it sounded interesting
and similar to other books I have read and loved. Honestly I found
it dull, and as if the author was just trying to stuff in a bunch
of characters and not concentrate on them individually. I didn't
feel heartache for any of them because I only thought of them as a whole.
It was actually sad to me how terribly it portrayed high
school because I'm in high school and she exaggerates and is mistaken
about how people act. I know it's a book and it has to be exaggerated
to be interesting but it seriously reminded me of a more adult Disney
movie with the way she wrote it.

If you're looking for a similar book, but with more genuine qualities
try Ellen Hopkins, whose characters also speak and think in a poetic form.
Another touching book with heart wrenching qualities is Staying Fat
for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher. I read it twice and could still probably
read it again and get more from it. It was phenomenal and so are all the
books by Ellen Hopkins.


In short this book was a disappointment and there are much better books out there
deserving attention.

Helen Frost does a terrific job of writing characters that all young people can relate to. Each character brings a different set of problems to a house where all are accepted and all are welcome. Tender moments prevail as a group of unwanted misfits manage to create a safe haven and family-like home.
My only concern would be the man who owns the home. Perhaps we don't learn enough about him to be able to ward off uncomfortable feelings. An older man who allows unwanted teenagers to live in his house without paying rent? Let's hope that our young people know enough not to replicate this scenerio, as we know that this picture-perfect setting is realistically not as innocent.

In the book Keesha's House , the main character, Keesha, is more than a teenager; she acts like an adult, and she is generous, kind and supportive. The other characters are Katie, Harris, Dontay, Jason, Carmen, Stephie, and Tobias, teenagers who work hard to meet their basic needs. The teenagers who are at Keesha's house have a common situation in their lives; they are neglected by their parents. They spend time at Keesha's house, the only place they trust. Even though there are some conflicts that hold them back, they never miss a day of school or work, and they are kind to each other. Their lives are not great compared to some teenagers who live with their parents but they manage to live. They feel welcome and comfortable at Keesha's house. More mature than their age, they support themselves and comfort each other. Their life experiences orient them to be courageous and more grown up than most teens. I strongly recommend that you read this book.

Keesha's House" by Helen Frost is a book that tells of the hardships that many teenagers are faced with. Each character faces a very different dilemma. Stephie is pregnant, Jason is Stephie's boyfriend who must decide what is important to him, Dontay is a foster child, Carmen was arrested on a DUI, Harris is gay, and Katie has and abusive stepfather. All share one quality. They need a place to get away from it all. That is where Keesha, a teenager herself, comes into play. She helps the other teens to get away from their problems.
The book is written entirely in free verse poetry. This choice of writing shows off Helen Frost's exceptional skill for molding poetry into a plot. Sentence structures flow and there are very few places where the poetic style interferes with the reading. With short chapter and not many pages, readers fly through the book in a day or two, but because of the lack of dialog, readers often don't know when characters are talking to each other or if conversations are talking place.
Frost creates character's readers car root for, but not everyone will be able to relate. Even though Frost's characters face various different hardships, they are problems that many don't have to go through. With no true narrator, readers don't' have anyone to cling to. Frost skips from character to character with ease, but often doesn't reveal their fate until later, which is sometimes maddening. It also seems as if each character is just telling their problem over and over only in small doses due to chapter length. Also, because of the shortness of the book, Frost is unable to include the actual conclusion of the book, leaving off at a point of bliss yet a point that leaves the reader questioning the fait of the characters.
"Kasha's House" is very interesting because of its poetic style and diverse group of main characters. Although it is sometimes repetitive and choppy, it is worth the very little time it takes to read. With a strong plot and thought provoking characters, "Keesha's House" would be decent required reading material due to the diversity of its style, characters, and poetic verse. Also, because of its length, students would find it easy to read. I would recommend "Keesha's House" to anyone who is having problems dealing with a dilemma or to anyone who likes to read about real characters who face real problems.

Keesha's House is a great inspirational novel for teens who might be reaching the peak of their young adult life. Many of the problems presented in this novel are things teens go through everyday. I felt that I could connect and that made every page more exciting to read. I know there are times in life when we wish there was a place we could escape to and reading this book made me see it really is possible. I give this book two thumbs and toes up.

Why do kids have to figure their own problems when someone should be there to help them? In the novel, Keesha's House, the author uses the characters as a version of kids that we see in our everyday life. This book, in my point of view, should be highly recommended because it deals with kids in our society today and their issues. It is good to know what is going on in this world with our kids.

I think that this book is a must read. It made me stop and think about myself. I wondered how I would end up if my mother was never there for me. It really reminds me of the people that were there for me in addition to my mother. The best audience of this book would be teenagers, and also highly recommended for adults. If you have kids, it will give you a better understanding on what they want and their needs. This book gives an overview about what is happening in this world today with our sons, daughters, and also parents. It explains that with the struggle with our everyday life, you will always need someone there.

I really liked this book because of the life situations that happened in the book. Normally I don't like the set up of a book going from character to character just explaining what they are feeling and what they think because it confuses me, but i really did like this one. I like the way it seems so realistic. It made me think of how these situatuations really do happen to people in the real world and I just wanted to reach into the book and help the troubled teens out and just talk to them. I guess I will have to say my favorite charater was Keesha because of the way she had to do with helping out the teens even though the house wasn't her own. I really like this book and would recommend it to other people to read!