The Weight of Water: Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal

After reading and loving Crossan's One, I decided to try another and I was just as impressed. The writing is rich and delicious, and the combination of Kasienka's alienation and her passion for swimming make her a compelling character who propels the reader through Crossan's well-chosen words. She's a character who is easy to love and hard to leave when her story closes. Loved it!

The Weight of Water is a very moving and well-written poem book about growing up from the perspective of a young girl.

Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan is an emotional, authentic work aimed at adolescents. Crossan creates a complex protaganist, Kasienka, who narrates entirely in verse. As a 12-year-old Pole dragged to London, she experiences the on-set of physical change while her social structure is in chaos. Crossan steers clear of maudlin emotion and Kasienka emerges as a strong individual with quiet fortitude. There is no pandering to Kasienka nor to the reader. This gives the reader credit to be able capture the essence of a three dimensional character via a crumb trail of evidence, spread through page long poems.

This book is a very quick read partly because it is short, partly because it is a bit predictable. Enjoyable story but no surprises.

Really sad and beautiful. Although in a child's voice, Crossan's poems have such a weight and wisdom. "Questions" was my favorite poem. It's the angst of an adolescent who already feels rejected at school and goes home to much of the same. It's hard go on this journey with Kasienka, but it's so well written, I must.

Sit for an hour with this marvel of a book... and you will surely remember the cruelty of youth... but will mostly admire the strength and beauty of the outcast who lives inside all of us.

This relatively short YA book is written in beautiful verse and tells the story of a young Polish girl attempting to fit in after a move to England to find her father. I don't know that I've ever seen a story of this length written in poetic form for such a young age group, so some young readers might find The Weight of Water challenging, but it might be a fun new experience for others. I enjoyed this quick read and its unexpected format.

It is a great book for all ages and is very intriguing and awesome sauce I think anyone would love this book!!! :-)

Written as a poem. I needed some time getting used to that.

A beautiful exploration of inner strength and the modern day migrant experience. It's written in verse, which has the potential to go wrong, but it's wonderfully handled.

The kind of book you wish would never end. The narrative is told through the medium of poetry, which gave to the whole story more verisimilitude. Throughout the reading you have the feeling that you are listening to a teenager who tells you in a fairly naive way what bugs her.

This book tells the story of 12 year old Kasienka and her mother as they depart their native Poland, with only a suitcase and a laundry bag containing their possessions, to make a new life for themselves in England. Kasienka’s father left them two years previously and his devastated wife has decided to follow him to England in an effort to find him. The story is told by Kasienka as she struggles to cope with life in a strange country, living in one room with her mother and being bullied by girls at her new school. This was recommended to but I was initially reluctant as in addition to the subject matter, which sounded a little depressing, the story is also told in verse so I was initially sceptical and didn’t expect to enjoy this at all. How wrong I was, for this book is a little gem. Kasienka is a very engaging character and the writing style is delightful, moving the story along quickly and making it very easy to read. I think that the poetry and spareness of the text highlights the poignancy of Kasienka’s plight without ever becoming over sentimental. At times this reads almost like a personal diary and although told entirely by Kasienka, with her inner thoughts driving the story rather than dialogue, I felt great sympathy for her mother too. Somehow the author also manages to convey the kindness of the neighbour, Kanora, and their growing friendship with him.This book deals with some weighty issues; growing up, first love, absent parents and immigration but principally it highlights how it feels to be “different” in any way. The sense of isolation that Kasienka feels is brilliantly described and the cruelty of the other girls to her and the thoughtlessness of some adults is well written and thought provoking. I think that this would make a terrific book for use in the classroom as it would both stimulate important discussion and introduce pupils to a different writing style. Maybe a much better lesson in the benefits of poetry than learning by rote!One of the very important things about children’s books, apart of course from the enjoyment, is that they allow the reader to experience the world from another’s point of view and in doing so they may develop some empathy with people very different from themselves. "The Weight of Water" will achieve this excellently I think as it conveys extremely well the sense of alienation felt by a stranger in another country.As the story progresses Kasienka develops an inner strength that is impressive and I found myself willing her on. This is not a depressing story, it is an uplifting one. Without giving away too much of the plot the way in which Kasienka deals with and overcomes her difficulties is heartening. It would also be an empowering book for teenagers coping with bullying to read.This is a coming of age story with a difference and highly recommended for readers of 11+

It's not really fair to give this opinion since I ordered it by mistake.I meant to order The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve and was dissapointed to received this book instead. I did try to read it but it's not my style at all and did not catch my interest. Sorry.