Crossing Stones by Helen Frost. 183 p. Frances Foster Books/ Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2009. 9780374316532. (Own)
Middle Grade Monday features Crossing Stones by Helen Frost. This verse novel is set during World War I. Two families farm on either side of Crabapple Creek. The Jorgensen and the Norman families are great friends and they use the crossing stones in the creek to visit each other often. Muriel is discovering that her feelings for Frank Norman might be more than just friendship. Then he enlists to fight in the war and his brother, Ollie, lies about his age to join him. Muriel opposes the war and is also intrigued by her aunt's work for women's suffrage.
The poems in this beautiful work of historical fiction are "cupped hand" sonnets and their shape also symbolize the crossing stones that connect the two families and their farms. This remarkable verse novel brings the events of America's entrance into the first World War as well as other issues of the day, to vivid life.
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