The Ground Was a Little Harder Than We Thought

 

It seems like it has been awhile since I launched into a Smackdown blog without starting with a literal or metaphorical sigh, as prelude to a lot of “Yeah, butting” that usually amounted to, “Here’s all the good things about these books, but we really didn’t like them that much.” I’m happy to report, dear readers, that this was not the case for this round of the smackdown. We had a good old fashioned Smackdown battle on our hands that comes from reading two really good YA books. We actually all started in on Fighting Words together and the texts started flying in short order about what a great book it was. I had somehow missed that this was written by the author of The War that Saved My Life - a book from previous years that I loved - until I had finished the book, but once I realized this I recognized the same attention to detail in those small moments that help us genuinely care about characters. We loved these girls and there was much talk of breaking the fourth wall and just stepping in to adopt them both. We also spoke at some length about how we could get this into the hands of more kids and adults in our school community to allow for a way into an important discussion about how we create safe spaces for kids to talk about what may seem to be unspeakable. If we had a reservation it was perhaps that the tremendous empathy and connection we felt with Della and Suki maybe wasn’t quite matched by the narrative momentum of the novel. The strength of this novel is its tiny moments of grace and love, and I don’t think any of us emerged from the novel feeling critical about the lack of narrative sweep,   . . .but then we read When The Ground is Hard. 

 What can I say? Malla Nunn’s novel is every bit as moving and nuanced as Fighting Words, but it is also both carefully crafted and beautifully written. This is a passage from the final pages of the novel:

 

I imagine Mother in the crosshairs of Bosman’s rifle. A girl alone, singing to blunt the sense of danger that lurks in the forests and the tall grass. A girl alone, singing to let the world know she is alive and well, and to come to look for her if her song ever stops.

 Even if you haven’t read the novel yet, this small passage will give you a sense of the poetry it contains and the continued interplay between beauty and danger that runs throughout the book. If you have read it, you’ll recognize this as just one of numerous passages that sets timeless themes in a very specific physical space. This book is a wonder and I’m excited for you to read it and it is our choice to go through.

 Breaking news: The votes are in and When The Ground is Hard lost by two votes. If you are looking for another book to read to complicate your Zombie selection, I’d encourage this to be the one.