When I was younger, my family would set aside certain days to drink tea and take turns reading from a collection of poetry books. My favorites generally rhymed and would lean towards being a little absurd—think limericks or Roald Dahl. So, I was a little surprised whenRebecca Gomez’s Mari in the Margins, which tells a down-to-earth story in mostly free verse poetry, turned out to be just as entertaining, though maybe for more substantial reasons.
A novel in verse and doodles, Mari in the Margins tells the story of 12-year-old Marivel as she struggles to overcome middle child syndrome. In a family with nine children, it’s easy for Mari to feel as though she gets lost in the crowd but when she hears about her school’s poetry contest, Mari sees an opportunity to stand out.
Although I may be (definitely am but that’s never stopped me before) a bit older than the target audience and I’m not a middle child, I found this story to be entirely charming and more than a little nostalgic. While reading Mari’s journal entries, I constantly found myself stopping to think about how this book would have become my entire personality if I had read it when I was younger. I know for a fact that reading this would have essentially forced me to start working on my own poetry collection. For the next several months, I would have been transformed into a wannabe Mari and afflicted my loved ones with an onslaught of truly terrible poetry.
I love reading stories knowing that they can and will inspire other readers. Reading good poems and going on to write bad ones (or even good ones) is something everyone should experience in their lifetime. After all what better way is there to see if we like or dislike something than by simply trying it? Mari in the Margins is the kind of book that makes you want to doodle and write; to just create anything and everything you can. In my eyes, that alone makes this a book worth reading.
Mari’s story isn’t just creatively inspired and inspiring. It also provides thoughtful commentary on distraction, annoyances, and our desire to be seen or at least defined. I read a lot of fantasy. The genre often addresses real-world problems by looking at them through the lens of another world. While I enjoy how this makes me consider the ideas behind the work, there is something to be said for handling topics exactly as they are. Gomez writes Mari’s challenges in a very straightforward and relatable way. While she recognizes that these problems don’t always have simple solutions or disappear overnight, her story ultimately leaves readers with a sense of hope that they can apply to their own lives.
For lack of a better phrase, Mari in the Margins tells readers to bloom where they are planted (in a way that doesn’t scream Hobby Lobby decor). It reminds us that we have a place in the world and that, even when it may not feel true, we are seen and loved. While there are many books with this message, Gomez’s style, format, and characters offer a more distinct reading experience that cannot be described as anything short of deeply authentic.
- Review: Mari in the Margins - June 12, 2024
Leave a Reply