creative
PEARL VERSES THE WORLD by Sally Murphy (Candlewick 2011) with illustrations by Heather Potter is a slim novel in verse all about Pearl. We learn quickly that Pearl lives with her mother and her grandmother. We also learn that Granny is now bedridden and dying. In school, Pearl's teacher exhorts the students to write poems and to make sure they have rhythm and lots of rhyme. This is a difficult task for Pearl whose life, in her own words, "there is no rhythm in me/no rhythm in my life." As Pearl grapples with the troubles and joys in her life, they are recorded in her singular voice in this gem of a book. <484>