Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Review - Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline

Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline
published 8/09
275 pages


I've been dreading this particular entry in Jenners' Take A Change Challenge - I was never really that good at "creative" writing. But as I was reading this novel, the haiku just popped into my head, so I figured this would be as good a choice as any to complete this challenge.


Poetic Review. Write a book review in three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. (You can pick any book you want to write about.)

Here goes -

A tragic mistake.
Friendships teeter on the brink -
Is the grass greener?

-------------------------------------

Four friends - two girls and two boys -
Get married to experience life's joys.
But when two members stray,
Hiding their love away,
Their happiness becomes so much noise.


------------------------------


What happens when a boy and a girl and a boy fall in love?
They promise each other forever, the boy and the girl,
And the second boy and the second girl, conveniently best friend
to the first girl, mentioned above.
They plan their lives, piece by piece,
Overlooking nothing,
except the love of the first girl and the second boy,
Which no one mentions.

Until one day, unbeknownst to the second girl and the first boy,
the first girl and the second boy remember,
Rekindle,
Betray.

A falling-out, a tragedy, a book tour -
events conspire to uncover the truth.
And soon all the boys, and all the girls
watch their carefully constructed lives slip away.
Was safety really such a good thing?

In the end, it's all about love.

------------------------------


Well. Not as painful as I'd anticipated, but definitely out of my comfort zone. Great challenge, Jenners! In case you're wondering, Bird in Hand was an excellent novel, and I'll be looking for more by this author.

Finished: 9/19/09
Source: the publisher
Rating: 8/10

This book counts toward -

at

14 comments:

  1. mar10123September 22, 2009 at 7:16 AM

    Oh, good for you! (And, yes, I will use this example when we start poetry next month in American Lit.)))

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  2. The Great CatsbySeptember 22, 2009 at 8:14 AM

    What makes you think you aren't creative!? That was wonderful! Congrats on doing so well in Jenners challenge I am glad to see every one is loving it so much!

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  3. soleilSeptember 22, 2009 at 9:13 AM

    i think you did a great job on the poetic review!

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  4. AprilSeptember 22, 2009 at 10:28 AM

    What a great job!! You did fabulous. This would be very difficult, I think, but you nailed it. This sounds like a very good book!

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  5. (Diane) Bibliophile By the SeaSeptember 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM

    I'm glad you enjoyed this book; i did too!

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  6. bermudaonionSeptember 22, 2009 at 12:43 PM

    I think you're pretty darn creative! I could never do the first one. The book looks good too.

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  7. TrishaSeptember 22, 2009 at 5:04 PM

    Very nicely done! I was worried about that part of the Take a Chance Challenge too, and when I completed my review of Watchmen for it, I was veeerrry happy it was over. Now I have to get on that Lit Riff portion of the challenge...

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  8. MeganSeptember 22, 2009 at 5:50 PM

    I think you did a great job with your poetry! I never did get the knack for writing it (or, uh, reading it for that matter), so I think I'd be helpless if presented with this task. But you, you executed it with flair! =D

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  9. ZibileeSeptember 22, 2009 at 5:59 PM

    I'd never seen a review written in poetic style before. Great job!

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  10. VioletSeptember 23, 2009 at 9:29 AM

    wow, you did so well, I totally want to read the book now.

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  11. ElizabethSeptember 23, 2009 at 5:49 PM

    Mom - thanks. =)

    P&P - well, I don't FEEL creative! I am definitely loving this challenge.

    jehara - thank you.

    April - I think the last one was the most difficult, actually - the first two came pretty quickly.

    Diane - it was good!

    bermuda - I actually thought the first one was the easiest! I think if I can do it, you could.

    Trisha - my lit riff publishes next week - I am SOOO nervous!

    Megan - thank you! I feel pretty ignorant about poetry, too, so I'm sure this wasn't the best attempt.

    Zibilee - thanks! A bunch of us are doing it for this challenge - everyone's poems have been very good.

    Violet - I bet you would enjoy it, too!

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  12. Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooksSeptember 26, 2009 at 2:13 PM

    Yes, this is a great challenge; I've enjoyed reading the various posts.

    You are an excellent poet; good for you, for taking the chance :) I especially like your haiku.

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  13. JennersSeptember 27, 2009 at 6:22 PM

    Everyone always says "I'm dreading the poetry part of the challenge" but then they totally rock it! Like you. I loved the haiku and the limerick but I must admit I started getting a little lost in the free verse!! Maybe all those boys and girls and love. Does kind of make me want to read it though!

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  14. PetuniaOctober 13, 2009 at 10:39 PM

    This is the part of the challenge that I was going to skip but you make it look effortless. If YOU can do it then perhaps I can too?

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Boo for spambots! Yay for real commenters! Too many of the former is making me crack down, but if you are one of the latter, I'd love to know what you have to say!