Thoughts: Working in a library is dangerous, I tell you! The amount of books I almost pick up every day at work is ridiculous. Then occasionally you give in and check the book out. Sometimes you are disappointed, but sometimes you discover something quite lovely - like this.
The Weight of Water is a novel told in verse. I love a good verse novel, to be able to tell a story with minimum words, to give it the emotional punch of a full novel is a skill I'd love to have. Kasienka's poems portray all the hurt and confusion she is feeling. The uncertainty on how to fit it, the uncertainty over whether she wants to fit in or even if anything she did would make a difference. I felt her loneliness leach off the page. Struggling with her differences at school and a mother who doesn't understand and is caught up in her own dramas.
There is great value in books like this. I feel it something that should be read and explored more widely, that children who have never had to move schools, let alone countries need to read books like this and hopefully view those new to their patch differently - not a threat or strange, but as another kid who really just wants to find their place in the world. The Weight of Water is a true gem.
The Weight of Water gets 4 stars!
* Did not like it
** It was OK
*** Liked it
**** Really liked it
***** It was amazing
