Because I am Furniture

AADL has no copies of this item

The youngest of three siblings, fourteen-year-old Anke feels both relieved and neglected that her father abuses her brother and sister but ignores her, but when she catches him with one of her friends, she finally becomes angry enough to take action.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Because I Am Furniture submitted by halofriendly on July 23, 2011, 9:20pm I was a bit skeptical about this when I started it because I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a whole book written in poetry form. But Chaltas’ use of words, imagery and poetic language made the story a gripping one. She takes the subject of domestic abuse and doesn’t shy away from it, but is also not gratuitous with it either.

Anke is a young woman whose father is abusive to everyone in the family but her. The title comes from her feeling that she is simply furniture in the house, nothing more. Being ignored and overlooked is just as traumatizing to her as her brother being beaten and her sister being sexually abused.

As I mentioned above, the entire book is written in poetry form. It is from Anke’s point of view and reads as though we’re sneaking a peek into her diary. Because of the graphic nature of her words, I felt twinges of guilt reading them, as though I was invading another person’s privacy. But the one thing that Anke wants and desperately needs is for someone TO notice what’s going on in her family and help them. She soon realizes SHE may need to be the one who helps and it all starts when she makes the volleyball team, against her father’s orders and learns for the first time that confidence can flourish in even the most seemingly impossible situations .

Very quick read (finished it in a day) and highly recommended.