Keeping the Night Watch
Author(s): Hope Anita Smith
So many unanswered questions weigh down thirteen-year-old C.J. as he struggles to understand why his father walked out. His father is back now, though C.J. is not as quick to forgive as the other members of his family. He still feels the weight of responsibility that fell on his shoulders when Daddy was gone, and he's not prepared to give that up. But C.J.'s anger is making him a stranger in his own home, and instead of life seeming better now that Daddy has returned, it feels worse.
Through powerful poems, Hope Anita Smith chronicles the nuanced emotions of a family that is slowly learning to heal and put the pieces back together.
Keeping the Night Watch is a 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book and a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Review(s):
“* Beautiful.” —Booklist, starred review
“A lovely melding of accesible beauty, hard truth, and aesthetic inspiration for young readers and budding writers.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
“[An] affecting portrait of one family's rebirth.” —The Horn Book
Long-listed CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best (2009), Long-listed ALA Notable Children's Books (2009), American Library Association Notable Children's Books (2009), School Library Journal Best Books of the Year (2008), Winner CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI) (2009), Long-listed Booklist Editors' Choice (2008), Commended Coretta Scott King Honor, Author (2009), Long-listed School Library Best Books of the Year (2008), Long-listed IRA Children's Book Award Notable Book, Long-listed Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year (2009)
ISBN: 9780312659363