What is Goodbye?

Grimes, Nikki. What is Goodbye? ill. Raúl Colón. Hyperion Books for Children, 2004. ISBN 0-7868-0778-4

Jaron is dead. How should Jerrilyn and Jesse grieve? What is the right way? How long are they allowed to be sad? How do you say goodbye? There is no right way for any of these things as the poems in the book note. Jesse acts out while Jerrilyn keeps everything bottled up. The poems demonstrate questions and feelings everyone has when a loved one dies. The mood of the poems range from deep sadness, to guilt, to desperation, to, ultimately, happiness. All of Jesse's poems rhyme while Jerrilyn's are free verse. This book is a really good way to demonstrate to young people that grief is personal and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Memories will replace grief.

I might use a couple of poems to demonstrate the grief of a book character might experience after the loss of another character. I would then have the students write a poem in the character's voice demonstrating the grief or the way the character handles the grief. I would read the following poem outloud to give them a springboard to work from.

Mad ~Jesse

You promised I could

always count on you.

You swore you'd teach me

everything you knew.

When I got older,

we were going to

bike across the country.

We were going to hike

through Yellowstone then

through Yosemite.

How could you die and

break your word to me?

You're nothing but a

lying little rat.

You left me, Jaron.

I hate you for that!