YA Books: Beyond the Cover: Review of Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

Review of Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

10:49 AM | Posted by Alexis Ladig

Title: Because I Am Furniture
Author: Thalia Chaltas
Format: Paperback
Release Date: April 16th, 2009
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Source: Amazon
Pages In This Edition: 352
Rating: 4/5

On the Cover:

Beyond the Cover:

Summary from Goodreads:

"Anke's father is abusive to her brother and sister. But not to her. Because, to him, she is like furniture - not even worthy of the worst kind of attention. Then Anke makes the school volleyball team. She loves feeling her muscles after workouts, an ache that reminds her she is real. Even more, Anke loves the confidence that she gets from the sport. And as she learns to call for the ball on the court, she finds a voice she never knew she had. For the first time, Anke is making herself seen and heard, working toward the day she will be able to speak up loud enough to rescue everyone at home - including herself."

Review:

I had been hearing about this book for awhile before I read it. At first I was a little afraid to pick it up. (Though I like to read some hard story lines, abuse is something I generally avoid because it's rarely done well and its extremely upsetting to me.) But to be honest, I'm glad I read this book.

Recently I was reading another review of the book and it was negative. I couldn't believe how this person could think that this book wasn't one of the most interesting books that they had ever read. This person also said there was little to no plot; something that I really don't agree with.

Because I Am Furniture is a book that you need to read. Though at times it was very hard for me to keep reading because of the sheer sadness of the subject matter, it opened my eyes to a world that otherwise I would never know about; a world were instead of being loved and praised, you are forgotten and ignored.

The main character was extremely relate-able. At times I could put myself in her shoes, something that was extremely scary to do, because of how teenage-like she seemed. Thalia has a way of seeming like she has the mind of a teen that I haven't seen in very many authors at all.

If you don't mind verse (which I happen to LOVE), and you want an honest-to-goodness shock of reality, pick up Because I Am Furniture, and you won't be disappointed.

--Alexis

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2 comments:

Shanon (Escaping With Fiction) said...: Fantastic review! I have not heard of this book until now, but it sounds like an emotionally moving story. Perhaps I'll check it out!

Also, this reminds me a little of a book I read a while ago called "Willow" by Julia Hoban. It's about cutting, but it was written so well. I think you would like it (if you haven't read it already). =); December 19, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Alexis Ladig said...: I've heard of Willow and I've wanted to read it for awhile now, but I haven't gotten the chance. I really need to pick it up!; December 19, 2011 at 4:45 PM