There is certainly a place and purpose for each of these books in a junior high classroom library. I thoroughly enjoyed both.
One book is poetry, one book is prose.
One book I read quickly, not only because of the unencumbered writing style (The car was in the driveway. I wasn't surprised, but I still felt relieved, especially after the previous night.),but because one event spilled into another and I wanted to gather them up to see how they all fit together.
One book I read slowly to digest and absorb each word on the page. (I gave lots of hugs and kept repeating, "I love you, I love you, I love you," because somehow I knew they deserved a gift for tending me in the garden of their family, and my breaking heart was all I had to offer.)
These books dealt with addiction, mental illness, neglect, psychological abuse. But they also had beautiful threads of friendship, kindness and resilience.
My vote goes to Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir by Nikki Grimes.
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