This was a beautifully written middle grade novel in verse. The main character Dylan has such a big heart and I could feel every emotion he felt. He goes through his mom’s mental illness, his grandfather’s bigotry and himself being bullied. There are a lot of middle grade students who struggle to pick up a book and those kids will almost always choose something in verse because it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Even though the topics in this book seem at more of a high school level, the story was still told at a middle grade level. My student’s consistently want “more adult” books and I think this will fall into that category. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this advanced reader’s copy

When Dylan spots an injured Hawk and goes for help, he discovers that the bird may be a creature his mother rescued prior to her death. Heidi Stemple weaves a compelling story of a boy navigating complex family and school relationships. Dylan struggles between his grandfather's flag flying racism, and the passionate and sometimes out of control legacy his bipolar mother left behind. The imagery was powerful. And the story pushed propulsively forward as Dylan stumbled forward trying to find a way to be true to his caring nature, and still connect with his difficult grandfather.

THE POETRY OF CAR MECHANICS by Heidi Stemple

Dylan doesn’t fit in, not at school, where he’s lonely and bullied for being different. Home is no better; his grandfather wants to “toughen him up” and his mother is gone. He’s most at home in the woods, watching birds, especially a blue heron, tall and ungainly like him. One day he sees an injured hawk, and concern for the hawk sends him off his normal path, on a worthy quest and . . . more details would risk spoiling it.
There are so many layers of wisdom in this lovely novel/poem, lessons in understanding self and others. Descriptions are lovely, problems are real, and the birds set such a good example of strength, courage, and beauty in living. If I were still teaching, I'd be recommending it to my students, especially those who avoid long books and those facing difficulties they may or may not share with others. Fixing cars might be more straightforward, but people are worth the extra complexity, and just might surprise you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wordsong for this ARC.

The Poetry of Car Mechanics is beautifully written while addressing the less beautiful topics in life. I really appreciated their portrayal of the mom’s mental illness through Dylan’s eyes. This book was such a powerful read and I enjoyed every stanza.

Dylan has learned how to fix things in his grandfather’s auto shop… only it takes him a while to figure out that “the poetry of car mechanics” might also apply to broken birds, and relationships. In this beautiful novel, characters reveal their layers slowly, to us and to themselves, challenging us to resist making assumptions—and reminding us that real people are often complicated and capable of growth.