The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan
| The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Catherine Bakes
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| Summary: Leaving Poland with a suitcase and an old laundry bag, Kasienka and her mother come to England to find her father, and end up finding much more. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 240 | Date: January 2012 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1408823002 | |
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Kasienka's Dad is gone, leaving only a brief note to say he'd gone to England. Its two years after his departure, and Kasienka and her mother are moving to England to find him. With nothing but a suitcase and an old laundry bag, they leave Poland and their lives behind. But England isn't what Kasienka imagined, living in a single room, and sharing a bed with her mum, Kasienka longs to return to Poland. At home her mother throws herself into finding Kasienka's Dad, heartbroken that he left them; at school Kasienka finds herself a target of bullying.
Feeling alone Kasienka spends her time at the local pool swimming, her one escape. It's here that she meets William, and finds that though her life has been turned upside down, he might be the one who keeps her afloat.
This book is magical; written in verse it flows effortlessly. The thing with novels-in-verse is that they are very different from poetry, yet very different from prose. Because of its format you can absorb it in no time at all, and it focus' on key moments rather than there being lots of description – a little goes a long way.
Kasienka is a lovely, sweet character who I just wanted to hug and tell her it was all going to be OK. We all know how it feels to be in a new place, and not to know anyone, so she is an easy character to relate too. Clair, the bully, is a fantastically written character, and because she is so well written the book is able to deal with some weighty issues very successfully, such as bullying, racism, poverty among a few.
This is an amazing and poignant book, that is so beautifully written that I didn't even realise I had finished it until I had turned the last page.
Thank you to the nice people at Bloomsbury for my copy of this book.
For more novels in verse try anything by Sonya Sones or for another book that deals with racism try the fantastic Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman.
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