I Felt a Funeral In My Brain

May 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-What is the appropriate response to the death of a grandparent? What about when the grandparent was your best friend? When you're aspiring poet Avery, you write down your grief. You have dreams where Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath become talking plants. You seek solace in the words of queer poets. Avery's nonlinear narration weaves the story of his deep and complex relationship with his grandfather, his mother's struggle with alcoholism, and his budding relationship with Luca, the son of his mother's best friend. Readers who are ready for a challenge will be pleasantly surprised with Walton's storytelling. The narrative's seamless mix of prose and poetry will draw teens in and wrap its fingers around their hearts. The almost stream-of-consciousness style shows adeptly how complicated love and grief can be. Readers will appreciate the realistic intricacies and heartache. Fans of Andrew Smith and Francesca Lia Block will be floored by this emotional roller coaster peppered with heartrending text. VERDICT A powerful voice who will speak to fans of poetry ready for a good cry.-Carrie Finberg, South Park High School, PA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2018
A damaged patella lays up Avery Fowell and gives him time to contemplate the most eventful summer of his life.Best friends Avery and Luca, two white boys, made a pact: If they passed biology, they'd lose their virginity with each other. They've been friends forever because their alcoholic mothers used to get drunk together--and are now in recovery together (although Luca's mom is much more successful). When a car crash lands Avery in a cast and his mother in rehab, Avery stays with his beloved grandfather Pal and Pal's girlfriend, Babs. However, Pal has his own problems with alcohol, complicated by his diabetes, and Luca has asked to cool things down. Avery does his best to cope with everyone's issues while exploring who he is, wants to be, and will be. As he deals with history, betrayal, and grief, he finds the best tool is poetry, that of the masters and his own. Walton's (Anything Could Happen, 2015) sophomore effort eloquently explores a lot of territory in prosey-verse...or maybe versey-prose. The pop references won't weather well, and the poetical references will only spark the poets in the crowd. However, those willing to invest a little time and brain power in figuring out (or feeling out) what the text communicates will be rewarded with a heartfelt and ultimately uplifting experience peopled with real humans.Portrait of the artist as a young queer. (Prose-verse hybrid. 14-adult)

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Starred review from June 4, 2018
Walton’s (Anything Could Happen) brilliant novel-in-verse is an exploration of grief, coming of age, and the life-altering power of recognizing one’s self in literature. High-schooler Avery is navigating new romantic and sexual territory with his best friend (“Our bargain was that if we both aced Bio, we would finally have sex, for our first times each, with each other”). At home, his mother is an alcoholic who injured him in a drunk-driving accident, and he’s mourning his heartbroken grandfather. Inspired by Faulkner and a stack of works by famous poets (Sexton, Plath, and Rich, among others), which his teacher gives him to dig through over the summer, Avery tries his hand at writing in many forms: journaling, fiction, and free verse. With lyrical lines and very little introduction, Walton immediately drops readers into the caverns of Avery’s headspace and delivers a difficult, beautifully cadenced novel that examines painful aspects of love while offering moments of profound guidance: “Be honest about how you feel/ With the people you love/ Who love you/ Who are worth it.” Ages 12–up. Agent: Peter Knapp, Park Literary & Media.

May 1, 2018
Grades 8-11 An ode to coping with grief and the indiscriminate pull of addiction, Walton's (Anything Could Happen, 2015) surrealist poetry will resonate strongly with fans of A. S. King. This summer, Avery wants to settle down with the stack of books his English teacher has loaned him and possibly cash in on the bet he made with his best friend, Luca, to finally have sex if they both ace biology. Instead, Avery's mother crashed their car, shattering Avery's patella and putting him on bed rest (and painkillers) until it heals. Avery channels similarly anguished poets his teacher recommends, including Emily Dickinson, Anne Sexton, and John Berryman, to cope with his mother's alcoholism and grandfather's death. With nuanced wit and empathy, Avery's poetry is a healing, liberating tool as he recognizes my family / ongoing, / they're / there, / there, / there. Not a finite, neatly wrapped story, it is all the more satisfying for its genuine portrayal of endlessly complex family dynamics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)