Waiting to Waltz – A Childhood (Poems by Cynthia Rylant) Drawings by Stephen Gammell.

This book is a series of short poems about significant people, events, or places in the town of Beaver. The poems are written in free-verse and seem to describe meaningful memories in Cynthia Rylant’s life. I connected with the poem about “Wax Lips,” because I remember those from my own childhood and the fun we had with them around Halloween. I remember sending letters to my uncle in Quincy, Indiana where everyone knew him just with the General Delivery address. I always thought he must be very important to have mail delivered that way. I was grateful for Rylant’s poem about “Sam the Shoe Shop Man,” and I wanted to cheer in celebrating with her the heroic qualities of the simple man who must have been an optimistic light to those who knew him. The poem about “Band Practice” showed Rylant’s persistence in working on fitting in and finding her own place. That must be one of her telling qualities even as a writer. She evidently learned a lot about playing in more ways than one. The illustrator inspired mood and hints about the town’s simple qualities. Especially revealing was the illustration showing looking out from inside Sam’s Shoe Shop. The double page spread of the thunder storm following the poem, “The Rescue” shows the stark desolate backdrop of the lone house amid the thunderstorm. The pencil sketch sets the mood appropriately.