Orchards: A Review and a Giveaway

This is a two-for-one week as I review and give away two books on the theme of bullying which Joyce Hostetter and I tackle in the spring issue of Talking Story.

From the number of novels-in-verse that I review, you may guess this is a genre close to my heart. Ever since I was in high school and poured my heart out in free verse, I've admired this genre. But there is more than a world apart from my attempts and beautifully written novels such as THE GOOD BRAIDER, BLUE BIRDS, CRAZY, THE KISS OF BROKEN GLASS. I am consistently impressed with these authors' ability to tell well-plotted stories using succinct, figurative language.

Let's add ORCHARDS by Holly Thompson to this list.  

(Please note that the line spacing in the following excerpts are not an exact replica of the book's poems. I had difficulty formatting these poems for this blog.)

Half-Japanese, half-Jewish American, Kana Goldberg is sent to her mother's ancestral home in Japan for the summer. A bullied eighth grade classmate (Ruth) committed suicide at the end of the school year and although Kenna wasn't the bully, she didn't stop it from happening. Working in her mother's ancestral mikan orange grove, she deals with her anger, guilt and grief and comes home a stronger young woman.

because of you, Ruth
I'm exiled
to my maternal grandmother, Baachan,  

to the ancestors at the altar 

and to Uncle, Aunt and cousins 

I haven't seen in three years-- 

not since our last trip back 

for Jiichan's funeral 

when Baachan  

told my sister Emi 

she was just right 

but told me I was fat 

should eat

less fill myself eighty percent 

no more each meal

                    but then I was small
                    then I didn't have hips
                    then was before this bottom inherited from my father's 

Russian Jewish mother  (p.9)

Initially, Kana experiences problems fitting in.

I try to learn fast 

make up for my 

non-Japanese half 

but Uncle makes  

remarks like after I set the breakfast table-- 

how are we supposed to eat... 

with our hands?

I rush to set out chopsticks...  

seconds  

too late

they seem to think 

I can just switch

          one half of me
       on and leave the other 
       half of me 
       off but I'm like
       warm water
       pouring from a faucet
       the hot
       and cold
       both flowing
       as one (p. 24-5)

In Japanese school, Kana tries to reach out to a girl she perceives is an outsider, because that's what her school counselor had said she and her friends should have done for Ruth. 

but instead of opening up to me 

instead of warming to me 

instead of reaching out 

in return
she pivots 

and walks away.
after that 

not everyone is so eager 

to get to know this New Yorker not everyone so hot 

to try their English 

I don't care 

groups don't matter 

so much to me now 

maybe because I know 

most atoms aren't as stable

as they seem (p. 53-54)

She has a negative opinion of her deceased grandfather, but when she realizes he was operating out of his own hurt over her mother's leaving Japan, she recognizes there are two sides to every story.

I think 

there must be at least 

two sides 

to your story, too, Ruth,
and maybe knowing 

more of Lisa's side

          how she lived 
       with her godparents
       not her parents
       who were I don't know where
       might help explain
       why she was so mean to you

       and why we all 
       followed 
       her lead (p.96)

When school ends Kana works long days in the family orchard. There she thinks about Ruth:

everyone knows 

Lisa didn't mean it 

everyone knows 

when a person says certain things 

they don't mean the words 

they say 

really

in the note you left 

for your parents

         and brother
      you said
      life was too hard
      they could never know
      what it was like
      for you at school
      where you were ostracized                           
                                 left out                           
                                 despised

and where 

just that day 

in front of all us girls 

after Jake handed you 

a piece of paper 

Lisa had given you 

a look  

and said 

I hope you die

I saw you glare  

at Lisa 

hard, I thought 

mean, I thought 

bitch we all said

hurt, I now realize 

as you crumpled that note into a  

tiny ball that was still 

in your jeans pocket

         when you were found in Osgood's orchard (p.110-111)

Kana's grief doesn't stop there; her world continues to painfully unravel. But by the time she returns to New York she has found a new home with her mother's family and a new way to go on living. 





Joyce Hostetter and I are giving away this book in conjunction with Talking Story's current issue on bullying. You can leave a comment either here, or through the newsletter. Do both, and your name will be entered twice.