Poisoned Apples

Title: Poisoned Apples by Christine Heppermann

Image:

Genre: Poetry

Justification:

           Each reader brings their own bias to the table. When looking for a poetry book I went immediately to my love of fairy tales. When looking for a book Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty came up. It received 3.57 stars and 5,197 rating and 1,068 reviews on Good Reads (Goodreads, 2019). The poems included a twist of juxtaposing teenage girls to fairy tales. This fairy tale book of poetry helps females to relate to experiences happening in their own lives. This poetry book is well written and allows the reader to think about their lives in a fairy tale world and how not all fairy tales are perfect.  

Evaluation of the book:

The photographs used in the book helped to reinforce the text. Each picture was dark and helped to express how somber the mood was. Pictures were also not included for each poem but helped to divide the sections of the book. For instance, “Sleeping Beauty’s Wedding Day” and “Photoshopeed Poem” go together and share an image (Hepperman, 2014, pp. 10-12). The photograph and lack of photograph helps the reader know that these two sections go together with each other. Some of the images are just a faint background picture. These images help to set the mood and pinpoint certain words in the text. On page 28 and 29 the background is straw, and the text says “Now she’s building herself out of straw” (Hepperman, 2014).  
          The dark images help to establish the mood. Each of these poems face a different trial and serious topic women face.  The images show the struggle that these women face and encounter. The picture of Prince charming shows a nice outside face but an open inside. This shows that outward appearance can not always be trusted. The darkness of the illustrations show how dark young girls can feel. On page 6 there is a two-page spread of a woman looking in a mirror. What is seen in the background is more mirrors jus glowing deep into the readers soul (Hepperman, 2014). This dark picture with just the light of the mirror is shocking. It makes the reader think about the inside and see where the light is and what we gravitate towards.

This poetry book surprisingly had a main plot and several subplots. The overall plot is that women go through challenges and that we all go through them from when the fairy tales were created eons ago to modern day. The subplot is that each fairy tale has another story that mirrors it. These stories might be about child abuse, alcoholism, vanity, diets, etc… As women we are our harshest critic and we are told to be an object of desire and that we are never good enough. This book calls us out on this. We learned we can be good enough when we are aware. We need to identify and fight the social stigma to succeed or we will become Tinkerbell and fade into nothingness with our crazy diets. We need to have Jack come and break down those beanstalks so we could be safe and free. We need to advocate and let our voice be heard so that our children do not need to go through this cycle.

Response:

          (f) Poisoned Apples reignited my love of poetry. This book used fractured fairy tales and juxtaposed them to experiences of women coming of age to tell a story that relates to women from all walks of life. It was interesting to see the correlations between the fairy tales and the way women are treated and feel. For instance, in the story of “The Giant’s Daughter at Spring Formal” it tells the story of jack and the beanstalk and alcoholism. (Hepperman, 2014, p. 35). These stories and poems are about issues that women face. The giant’s daughter wants Jack to cut down the beanstalk so that she could be free. It was beautifully written with photographs that helped to set the theme of the text.

          (d) From the diet craze I see my coworkers and friends partake in to the conversations we are not allowed have this book discusses a lot of major important issues. (Hepperman, 2014, pp. 57-63). I don’t diet. I also, do not jump on the latest diet craze. When I was in high school my Mom and sister decided to go on South Beach Diet. I looked at them and realized they had so much societal pressure to look a certain way. I could use a diet now and exercise, but I do not want it to define me as it defines so many women. We feel pressured to go on these diets that fade in and out. We are pressured to look and act a certain way even if that way is not healthy or best for us. I also, think we do need to have important discussions and discuss sex ed and what the difference in words mean. This year I have had to shut down several conversations with students because they are not school appropriate. It kills me inside because I do not know fi they will find a place that they can have these conversations, but I know it is not worth losing my job. This book highlighted the societal pressures so we could think and work to change them to make a better world for ourselves and the future.

Conclusion:

          Poisoned Apples combines text and illustrations to juxtapose fairy tales for women growing up. The poems were well written and addressed issues that all young women will meet either directly or indirectly. The illustrations help to reinforce the text, the poems also establish the mood. This fractured fairy tale book of poetry surprisingly had a strong plot and feminist ideals. This book was well written and has already been passed along and shared with women who will benefit from its deep meaning.

Citation:

Goodreads. (2019). Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty. Retrieved from goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20483085-poisoned-apples

Hepperman, C. (2014). Poisoned Apples. New Yotk: Greenwillow Books .

The University of Texas at El Paso. (n.d.). How to Write a Reaction Paper or Reader Response. Retrieved from Reader Response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm