Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214 by Helen Frost

April is National Poetry Month, so I found myself in the poetry shelves and decided to try a volume. "Spinning Through the Universe" is a short novel of poems written from the perspectives of the students, teacher and custodian of Room 214, an average classroom in an unnamed school. The poems range in subject from new kittens and lost bikes to home troubles, homelessness, and larger issues of identity and friendship. Though the year is not easy for the students of room 214, the genuine caring that they have for one another is touching and uplifting.

In addition to creating diverse voices for each of the characters in Room 214, Frost also demonstrates her talent as a poet by using many different and sometimes difficult styles of poetry. Everything from haiku and sestina to a crown of sonnets show up in the work. An index explains each of the poetry forms used in the book and gives suggestions on how to write each form of poetry.