Book Review:  The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

Every once in a while I find a book that I enjoy NOT because it has lots of action or a suspenseful plot, but rather because of the simple truths that the author conveys in a timeless story.  This is one of them.  The Weight of Water is the story of 12 year old Kasienka, a Polish girl who has immigrated to Coventry, England with her mother.  Told in verse, this story illustrates the hardships that she and her mother face from day one.  They have left the familiarity of Poland to try to locate Kasienka's father, a man that abandoned them several months before.  Kasienka feels that perhaps he does not want to be found, but her mother clings to the hope that they will reunite and begin life anew together.  In the meantime, Kasienka begins going to school, and must endure the bullying and awkwardness of "junior high".  She discovers first love as well as cruelness in her classmates as she tries to understand the complexities of friendship and acceptance.  Kasienka's only reprieve from the stress of her home and school life is the community pool.  She is a powerful swimmer and feels most confident while in the water.
This book is simple yet very powerful at the same time.  Many students, no matter what their background, can relate to Kasienka's predicament - she is not in control, and she feels like she is being pulled from all sides by puppet strings.  The prose writing style conveys the emotions perfectly - if this had been a full-fledged novel, I feel like it might have been bogged down.  This is a great novel that I would highly recommend to anyone!