And I’m sitting here wondering why my mother change the channel
And the news won’t change the story
And why the story won’t change into something new
This is an unusual book and composed in a way unlike most. It is not really a book in verse per se, but the journal-like structure in its representation in which a few words form a fragment of a much—much—longer sentence has all the visual earmarks of poetry. The concept is to match vividly illustrated imagery with just a few words of type over each page to create a sustained engagement. As a result, what passes for quotes out of context are really just small parts of a whole book comprised of literally just a handful of actual sentences. These are the opening words of that first sentence.
and my mother is staring at the television trying to tamp the damp down trying not to break open
and my brother is still playing his game trying to break his own record
and my sister is on the phone trying to figure out how to break free
and I take a break from them all
The thing to understand about this book is that it is not driven by the mechanics of plot and narrative. This is not a typical book for kids reliant on a strong sense of storytelling. It is experimental and seems more a work of art—fine art in the visual sense—than work of literature. But, of course, that is not really the case. This is literature, but of a sort not often found in this genre or most other genres for that matter. It is literature as Expressionist art and that is not something often seen in works written for younger readers. It is also why this work from a popular author may be met with confusion or even some stronger emotions by those readers expecting just a straightforward story.
so I get up and look for an oxygen mask around the house
since my mother has been known to keep every little thing
and my father has been known to throw nothing away
Another way to approach the structure of the book that might facilitate a better understand of its unique approach is to view it through the perspective of a musical composition. It is a work that is highly dependent upon a type of effect usually associated with musical composition: leitmotif. A leitmotif is a recurring theme that is intended to signal a specific emotional response each time it repeats. For example, when hearing a certain two-note repetition played down at the bass end of the scale, one may immediately experience a sudden fear of sharks. This is a book filled with repetition. Often the very same words pop up again and again while in other cases the repetition if an image the words produce. One of those example is “oxygen mask” which also pops up frequently. The visual imagery of the illustrations change and therefore it is the idea of the oxygen masks and what they stand for symbolically that is really at stake.
