Review: Because I Am Furniture

Because I Am Furniture
Thalia Chaltas
Viking; April 2009; 978-0-670-06298-0 (hardcover)

Summary: Anke is invisible to her father--she's nothing more than a piece of furniture. So while her brother and sister are abused by his words and his hands, Anke tries to deal with her conflicted feelings. Does her father love her at all? Why does everyone in her family let this happen? How can Anke carve out a life for herself amidst the tension?

In riveting, well-crafted verse, Thalia Chaltas explores the way a family is destroyed by abuse, yet how a girl can grow strong in such an environment. Anke has not had beauty and kindness and courage beaten out of her by her father's neglect; she is still a teenager, occasionally insensitive and melodramatic, but she is also brave and determined. When Anke stands up to her father, ending the abuse that is now spreading to outside their family, it's another step in the growth we've seen from the first page of this book. Fans of Sonya Sones and Ellen Hopkins will want to check out this novel-in-verse.