The Language of Stars

Sarah doesn't outwardly object to her boyfriend's kegger at poet Rufus Baylor's summer cottage, a historical site in town. After being busted, the miscreants are sentenced to Baylor's poetry-appreciation class. He inspires even the most poetry-averse delinquents, but especially Sarah, who becomes his protégé and friend. Readers will find much to savor in this ode to the transformative power of verse.

Sarah gave up her quirky friends for popular boyfriend Fry junior year. Though it's his loathsome idea to throw a kegger at "National Treasure" poet Rufus Baylor's summer cottage, a historical site on the outskirts of their coastal North Carolina town, Sarah doesn't outwardly object -- or stop drunken partygoers from ravaging the place. After being busted, the miscreants are sentenced to community service and to a poetry-appreciation summer class, and the story deepens considerably once the elderly poet himself arrives to teach the course. A warm, natural teacher, Rufus inspires even the most poetry-averse delinquents, but especially Sarah, who becomes his protégé and friend. As Sarah finds her voice, the first-person narration naturally becomes more lyrical, and she also sheds her unappealing passivity. She stands up to her controlling mother, who pressures her toward med school; to Fry, who she knows isn't right for her; and ultimately to fatherly Rufus when he attempts to project his dreams onto her future. Even before reading Hawes's note on the story's inspiration, poetry-loving readers should pick up on the Robert Frost-like sensibilities in Baylor, whose work is steeped in the natural beauty of his regional setting. With Sarah's and Rufus's poems included, readers will find much to savor in this book, an inspiring redemption story and an ode to the transformative power of verse. katrina hedeen