Keesha’s House, Helen Frost

Description

Keesha’s House
by Helen Frost
Paperback | January 8, 2013

Everyone deserves a place to stay.

When Keesha is forced to leave home, she finds safety and stability living with Joe. Soon, other teens begin gravitating to her house when they have nowhere else to turn. Each arrives carrying their own burdens, searching for connection, understanding, and a way forward.

Stephie is pregnant and trying to make the best decisions for herself and her future child. Jason, her boyfriend, is torn between responsibility and the promise of a college basketball career. Dontay, in foster care while his parents are in prison, feels unwanted both inside and outside the system. Carmen waits in juvenile detention after a DUI arrest, unsure of what comes next. Harris, disowned by his father after coming out as gay, lives in his car and struggles to survive on his own. Katie copes with anger and exhaustion as her mother remains loyal to an abusive stepfather.

Written entirely in traditional poetic forms including sestinas and sonnets, Helen Frost’s extraordinary novel weaves together the voices of these seven teenagers into a powerful narrative collage. Spare, elegant, and emotionally resonant, the book captures how fragile lives can be held together through compassion, resilience, and chosen family.

Keesha’s House is a Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year, widely praised for its authenticity, lyricism, and deep empathy for marginalized youth.