book data
191 ratings,
3.89
average rating, 75 reviews
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published
March 13th 2007
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
binding
Hardcover, 272 pages
literary awards
2008 Printz Honor Book
isbn
037583799X
(isbn13: 9780375837999)
description
On a bleak February day in 1963 a young American poet died by her own hand, and passed into a myth that has since imprinted itself on the hearts and m...more
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| 100+ Book Challenge: Meghan's 2009 List | 71 | 337 | 4 hours, 46 min ago | |
| this book "your own sylvia" | 1 | 11 | 01/16/2008 02:58PM |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 323)
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5 stars (54)
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4 stars (83)
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3 stars (37)
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2 stars (13)
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1 star (4)
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avg 3.89
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in July, 2008
This book is extraordinary. I have limited shelf space and even when I love a book, it usually goes right out the door as a gift to someone else when I'm done reading. For example - recently I adored THE HUNGER GAMES, gave it five stars here, raved about it... but as I compare my reaction to that book with my reaction to this one, well, I happily gave HUNGER GAMES away upon completion, but YOUR OWN, SYLVIA, I will keep and reread. And the book is also going to send me right back to Sylvia Plath...more
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Read in January, 2008
Written in the style of Plath's most notable work, Hemphill creates a series of original poems influenced by and chronicling the Pulitzer prize-winning poet's childhood until her untimely suicide in 1963.
Thorough research - as illustrated by the use of footnotes - illuminates the various themes and issues which arose in Plath's poetry. Hemphill avoids turning the work into a stale biography by using various individuals' point of view - those who were closest to Sylvia - as the voice...more
Thorough research - as illustrated by the use of footnotes - illuminates the various themes and issues which arose in Plath's poetry. Hemphill avoids turning the work into a stale biography by using various individuals' point of view - those who were closest to Sylvia - as the voice...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Suzanne by:
Faith
So good. So, so, so good. I thought I would be at a disadvantage because (shame on me BA English, MS Library Science) all I knew about Sylvia Plath was that she wrote poetry, wrote something called The Bell Jar which I was fairly certain (now confirmed) was depressing, and that she killed herself. This book, however, is a great introduction into the world of Sylvia Plath.
The author took true events from Sylvia's life and wrote fictionalized accounts of them in verse (it makes sense ...more
The author took true events from Sylvia's life and wrote fictionalized accounts of them in verse (it makes sense ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to elissa by:
adbooks
Whoo hoo! Today it won a Printz Honor! I just finished this last week, and if I had read this last year (a few days ago at this point) it would have definitely been on my 2007Favorites shelf! It was hard to get ahold of in libraries, though, and my hold was just filled a few days ago. Hopefully it'll win awards later this month and become more widely available (YES! It did!). It's an extremely balanced and wonderfully researched look at Plath's tumultous life. I had only read THE BELL JAR...more
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Read in December, 2007
I tend to be skeptical of novels-in-verse, or in this case, biography-in-verse, but I'm not sure why since I always end up enjoying them. Well, saying I enjoyed this would be a bit of a stretch, but it was a fascinating read and easy to get swept up in. I came out the other side feeling incredibly sane and healthy and happy, but thinking a bit about what makes people turn out the way they do and how writing intersects with life. There's a great section at the end on the author's process of wr...more
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01/17/09
The Loft
added it
This is beautifully written and offers a more balanced perspective of the poet's life than many other biographies.
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I knew immediately that I wanted to read this book after I saw it as an option for the Printz Award books. I have been a Sylvia Plath fan ever since The Bell Jar and when I read some of her poetry. You gotta love the inherently self-destructive female voice! This book aims to recreate her life through poems “by” people that were close to her, even though they are all written by the talented author, Stephanie Hemphill. The poetry’s purpose is very obvious because you get a sense that it ...more
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Read in March, 2009
recommended to Claudia by:
Jennyrecommends it for: Everyone...women will get it
I barely know where to start. Hemphill is an amazing poet. Each chapter of this fictionalized biography of Sylvia Plath is an exquisite poem, in the voice of someone in Sylvia's life...her family, her friends, her neighbors, her spurned boyfriends. Many of the poems have been written in the style of Plath's own work. We see a beautiful, mercurial, talented, loving, doomed young woman's march into myth. Hemphill accompanies each poem-chapter with biographical details that help the reader ground h...more
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6 comments
Your Own, Sylvia presents an intimate view into the life of poet Sylvia Plath. Told in poems written by the author from the points of view of Plath or her friends and family, it combines Plath's writing style with notable moments from her life. For someone who is interested in Plath's life and work, this book is interesting and satisfying.
Because Sylvia Plath died a young death, she did not have the chance to publish as much as her readers would have liked. Stephanie Hemphill's ...more
Because Sylvia Plath died a young death, she did not have the chance to publish as much as her readers would have liked. Stephanie Hemphill's ...more
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Read in February, 2009
I wasn't sure I what to think of this biography/fictional account of a real life. I came into this book knowing very little about Sylvia Plath's writing or life, but the unique format (poetry) intrigued me. Through researching and interviewing the author puts together a portrait of a gifted, but mentally disturbed writer. Told from many different people's perspectives, the story is tragic and ends with the suicide of Sylvia Plath. Stephanie Hempill is herself a gifted poet and many of the im...more
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Read in June, 2009
recommends it for:
everyone
"She appears anchored / to the idea of sinking" - p. 70
Hemphill eloquently uses various poetic styles to tell the story of Sylvia Plath, a woman tortured by regrets, heartache, and betrayal. Each poem is from the perspective of individuals who knew her throughout her life including family, childhood friends, and colleagues.
Even though the reader knows how the story ends, she feels compelled to hold out hope that Plath will overcome her demons. Each poem gives a...more
Hemphill eloquently uses various poetic styles to tell the story of Sylvia Plath, a woman tortured by regrets, heartache, and betrayal. Each poem is from the perspective of individuals who knew her throughout her life including family, childhood friends, and colleagues.
Even though the reader knows how the story ends, she feels compelled to hold out hope that Plath will overcome her demons. Each poem gives a...more
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Read in May, 2009
I listened to the audiobook.
And I think I liked it more this way. It's multivoiced, with different readers reading the in-between and the poems add a texture. Having just read The Bell Jar, it was interesting getting some context.
Poor Sylvia! It would be interesting to know how different her life would be in a different time, but then we didn't save David Foster Wallace either.
I know want to see thaat Gwyneth Paltrow movie.
And maybe read the book...more
And I think I liked it more this way. It's multivoiced, with different readers reading the in-between and the poems add a texture. Having just read The Bell Jar, it was interesting getting some context.
Poor Sylvia! It would be interesting to know how different her life would be in a different time, but then we didn't save David Foster Wallace either.
I know want to see thaat Gwyneth Paltrow movie.
And maybe read the book...more
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Read in March, 2009
Poetry, Art, Music & Short Stories reading list. I have read The Bell Jar and a lot of Sylvia Plath's poetry. I even think I've read a copy of biographies. I despise Ted Hughes and this book just added to it. I didn't realize until I read this book that he wouldn't allow anyone to write about Sylvia without his approval. He apparently changed his mind about 20 years ago but in case you wonder why no biographies appear about her before then well, now you know. He just seems like a control freak t...more
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Read in January, 2009
I think the author of this book was attempting to write a moving, poetic tribute to an author she greatly admired. If only I had seen it as such when I read this book. The poetry was fairly nice, but I was not impressed with the format of the poems, or who's perspective they were told from. I also thought that the way they were told was slightly belittling to Sylvia Plath and I was almost deterred from liking her character. I would have rather read a biography about her that was more straigh...more
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Read in May, 2008
I mentioned Stephanie Hemphill’s Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath last week. This biography of poet Sylvia Plath is written in poetry, and each poem is told from a different perspective: Plath’s mother, friends, husband.
At first, I was put off by the book’s style. Reading a biography in poetry felt awkward. In fact, I was more interested in the footnotes that accompany each poem. The footnote explains the biographical context of the poem. In fact, I was tempte...more
At first, I was put off by the book’s style. Reading a biography in poetry felt awkward. In fact, I was more interested in the footnotes that accompany each poem. The footnote explains the biographical context of the poem. In fact, I was tempte...more
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Read in February, 2009
I was a little apprehensive before starting the book. I didn't really know anything about Sylvia Plath, so I figured I'd be lost, however I was found myself sinking deeper and deeper into her dark and heartbreaking world. Usually I'm a pretty quick reader, especially books written like this, but I found myself reading at snail speed trying to savor ever word and every line. The format Stephanie Hemphill used drew me in and gave the book so much more power and meaning.
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Read in February, 2009
This is simply a gorgeous book. Hemphill has done extensive research into Plath's life, and tells her life story in a series of poems, each one written from the perspective of someone who knew Plath (family member, psychiatrist, neighbor, etc.). I have not read Plath's poetry in years, and perhaps the best compliment I can give this book is that after reading it, I immediately went back to re-read those poems again. I'm also planning to read one of the biographies that was especially helpful ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Becca by:
Found it randomly!recommends it for: Everyone, but especially Plath fans, and newcomers
Ironically, I found, bought *and* read this book, one week after the anniversary of Sylvia Plath's death. This book is love and I got choked up at the last few poems. I found the fictional, poetic accounts of real people and events, quite possibly what Sylvia may have thought and felt just days before her death, to be quite emotional. I've been a big fan of Sylvia since I read the Bell Jar the first time, and even more so when I read it again. I have it on Audio CD, and I have Ariel, as well as ...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
Fans of Sylvia Plath
I went into this book with some skepticism, because I'm a little tired of biographies-in-poetry, and because I figure, haven't there been enough poems about Sylvia Plath written by Sylvia Plath?
I think it's wise of Hemphill to avoid taking on Plath's own voice. Even in the poems that "imagine" Sylvia Plath, taking one of Plath's poems as a model, they're written in third person rather than first person - an interesting choice that keeps Hemphill at arm's length from a pushy...more
I think it's wise of Hemphill to avoid taking on Plath's own voice. Even in the poems that "imagine" Sylvia Plath, taking one of Plath's poems as a model, they're written in third person rather than first person - an interesting choice that keeps Hemphill at arm's length from a pushy...more
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Read in January, 2009
Although fictional this is a great way to give a bit of biography on a poet I've never read anything from. Hemphill writes poems from the viewpoints of Sylvia Plath's friends, family, etc. and tells the story of a fasinating person. It makes me want to go out and read non-fiction biographies about her.
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