The Way a Door Closes

Author: Hope Anita Smith

Illustrator: Shane W. Evans

Published: In 2003 by Henry Holt and Company

ISBN: 978-0805064773
Pages: 53

Synopsis: 

     It's not often that you find a set of poems that tells one complete story, but The Way a Door Closes is a collection that accomplishes this.  Through 34 individual poems Smith tells the story of C.J. and his perfectly average family.  C.J. lives happily with his two parents, his brother and sister and his grandmomma until the day his father looses his job and walks out on his family with the quiet "click" of the front door.  After that nothing is the same.  Smith thoughtfully illustrates  C.J.'s journey as he mourns and struggles with the loss of his father.  Although each poem in The Way a Door Closes stands alone they also work seamlessly to together to tell a single, cohesive story of hope, love and family.

 

My Reaction: 

      In my reading career I have read poetically written stories and I have seen poem collections joined together by a theme, but I had not seen a cohesive story told through a set of individual poems.  This idea was completely new to me when I read The Way a Door Closes.  It took me a few poems to notice the chronological nature of this collection.  But it was a pleasant suprise when I did realize it.  Smith includes just enough similarity and detail between each of her poems to keep to story smoothly flowing.

      However, because Smith writes using mostly free verse many of the poems start to blend together.  They often have little to no distinct rhythm so they can feel like a set of disjointed proses instead of individual poems.  Although this consistency helps maintain continuity throughout the story it detracted from my ability to see the poems individually.  The only poem that ended up standing out was When Daddy Goes; written in six, four line rhyming stanzas.  It diverged from the rest of the free verse poems and therefore made a big impression on me because it added new flavor to the story.  Overall, I think the limited amount of variation in The Way a Door Closes could make this collection less appealing to students because it they may find it redundant and uninteresting at times.  Furthermore, it is not the best collection for introducing students to types of poetry.  Despite these qualities, The Way a Door Closes is a wonderful example of how you can extend poetry beyond a single poem.  It manages to clearly convey the struggles of a teenage boy as he attempts to deal with and understand the disappearance of his father. 
      Unfortunately, I worry that some people might completely miss this crucial element, because (like myself initially) they may not realize that they needed to read the poems in order.  Therefore if you choose to read this collection, be sure you read it from cover to cover.  Do not skip around!

 

My Rating (1-5 stars):

 

Still Curious:

Check out the author Hope Anita Smith's website. you can explore her blog, the books she has written and even send her message and she will response!