Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

Title: Because I Am Furniture
Author: Thalia Chaltas
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 16, 2009
Pages: 368
My Edition: ARC
Amazon Page

Rating: B-
Plot - 15/20
Characters - 16/20
Writing - 18/20
Originality - 16/20
Entertainment - 8/10
Recommendation - 7/10
Total: 80/100

Summary:
Anke’s father is abusive. But not to her. He attacks her brother and sister, but she’s just an invisible witness in a house of horrors, on the brink of disappearing altogether. Until she makes the volleyball team at school. At first just being exhausted after practice feels good, but as Anke becomes part of the team, her confidence builds. When she learns to yell “Mine!” to call a ball, she finds a voice she didn’t know existed. For the first time, Anke is seen and heard. Soon, she’s imagining a day that her voice will be loud enough to rescue everyone at home—including herself.

Review:
Because I Am Furniture is a beautifully written story about a girl coming to her own defense and discovering that she's more then someone makes her out to be. Told in verse, this novel captures the aspect of the feeling of invisibility and wondering if she's worth anything.

Anke's life is simple, in reason. She has the siblings, and the two parents. A big house, a school. Seems ordinary, no? But Anke's father is abusive and since she doesn't hit Anke and ignores her, she feels invisible, like furniture.

Chaltas' writing was gorgeous. You caught the emotion in her words and the intensity she was bringing to the paper. Her writing was definitely the alpine point of the novel, which keeps the reader, well, reading.

The plot was the miss on this novel. It was a bit boring. It felt too quick and like not enough stuff ever really happened in the novel. The charaters were defined, but not so unique as liked. The originality part of it was there, but not so much so. The part of Anke being ingnored by the abusive father, a bit more original then the father abusing everyone. The ending was too quick and didn't cover everything well enough.

All in all, maybe one to buy, maybe one to borrow from the library. I'll let you decide.