The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos (Carolrhoda Lab 2019)
Reviewed by Kathryn Leonard-Peck
In this hybrid review, Leonard-Peck combines poetry and critical reading to map the emotional landscape of this stunning YA novel, which as a 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection and a 2018 New York Public Library Best Book for Teens. For more reviews that challenge the form, click here.
One man’s disturbed
is another girl’s normal
shrink notes scribbling
as the girl writes her book
buildingword
by word
by reaching word
her own definition
of her own new life
from always
to zombie
while Daddy
cool his heels in clanging jail
and Mom
throws her heels up to the dingy ceiling
man after man
in her sagging bed
as CPS knocks
and snatches her brother
baby of the system
thumb in his silent mouth.
Macy rages
hungry
half-defeated
pen in hand
trying to define
a reality that works
a reality that hurts
just a little bit less
her teacher helping
friends at the door
Alma patient
always learning
George near mute
guarding his head
so the last breath of his dream
isn’t beaten out
so the last small spark isn’t snuffed
but still
despite the small letters of hope
trauma creeps, prowls
always waiting
always
just a jagged breath away.
