The Weight of Water

By Sarah Crossan

A poetic, gifty offering that combines first love, friendship, and persistent courage in this lyrical immigration story told in verse.

Carrying just a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother are immigrating to England from Poland. Kasienka isn't the happiest girl in the world. At home, her mother is suffering from a broken heart as she searches for Kasienka's father. And at school, Kasienka is having trouble being the new girl and making friends. The only time she feels comforted is when she's swimming at the pool. But she can't quite shake the feeling that she's sinking. Until a new boy swims into her life, and she learns that there might be more than one way to stay afloat.

The Weight of Water is a coming-of-age story that deftly handles issues of immigration, alienation, and first love. Moving and poetically rendered, this novel-in-verse is the story of a young girl whose determination to find out who she is prevails.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Jul 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781619630475

Sarah Crossan

Sarah Crossan grew up in Dublin and London. Her books for children and teenagers have won many prizes including the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal, the CBI Book of the Year, the YA Book Prize, and the CLiPPA Poetry Award. Her first novel for adults, Here Is The Beehive, was published in 2020 to critical acclaim, and was shortlisted for Popular Fiction Book of the Year in the AN Post Irish Book Awards Sarah's novels have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She currently lives and works in East Sussex.

Book preview

Contents

Part 1

Leaving Gdańsk Główny

Stansted

Dwellings

First Day

Sixth Grade

The Bell

What I Try Not to Hear

Pale

Mute

Search Engine

Noise

Before England

Rain

Swimming

Disco

Deceiver

Road Atlas

The Odyssey

Kanoro

When I Go Swimming Again

Mistaken

Group Work

William

Small Secrets

Drip Tap

Meal Times

Wanted

Examinations

Novice

Christmas

Mama’s Mama

Snow Meal

Change

Happy Slapping

Games

Radio News Flash

Prize Night Envy

Anyone Else

In the Dark

Time to Grow

All Wrong

Karma

If I Were on the Swim Team They Might See Me

Name Day

The Hunt

Maybe

Art Class

Not Alone

Thursday

Grating

What William Says

Back in Gdańsk

Finding Tata

I Wish Tata Were Dead

Questions

Daredevil

I Try to Tell Mama

The Pity Club

Smokers’ Corner

Oh, to Be Musical

Floating

Rumors

When Boys Fight

Late Nights

Lifesaver

Higher

Dear William

First Kiss

Assembly

No Offense, But . . .

Wrath

Teachers

Misread

Talking

Part 2

Gummy Bears

Partners

Love Is a Large W

Kenilworth Castle

Lottery

Ending the Odyssey

The Bungalow

Cold Hot Chocolate

Blame

A Letter I Never Send

The Bell Jar

Skin Deep

I Didn’t Mean to Go Back

Melanie

The Gospel According to Tata

Lady Godiva

Ready

Guilty

Motherless

Desperation

Hope

Split

Part 3

Dalilah

The Veil

July 7

In Mama’s Absence

Maybe I Should Not

Confidence

Practice

Ms. Morrow

Family

A Solution

Allegiance

Cracked

Sleepover

Cooking Stones

Good News

Vacant

Rebellion

Betrayal

Lies in the Dark

To London

Fear

Starting Blocks

Home

Gold

Metamorphosis

Forgiveness

Reunion

Treat

Resurrection

Side by Side

EPILOGUE

Butterfly

Acknowledgments

Glossary

For Mum and Dad

Part 1

Leaving Gdańsk Główny

The wheels on the suitcase break

Before we’ve even left Gdańsk Główny.

Mama knocks them on some steps and

Bang, crack, rattle—

No more use.

There are

plastic bits

Everywhere.

It’s hard for Mama carrying a suitcase

And a bulging laundry bag.

It’s hard for Mama

With everyone watching.

She’s shy about the laundry bag,

An old nylon one

Borrowed from Babcia.

Tata took all the good luggage

When he left us,

When he walked out

On Mama and me.

There are clean clothes in it,

Mama reminds me,

Like this were something

To be proud of.

And she won’t let me carry a thing

Except

my own

small bag.

"You guard our passports, Kasienka.

Good girl, Kasienka.

And the money.

We’ll need those pounds.

Mind the money and the passports.

Good girl, Kasienka."

Mama prattles as I scuttle along

behind her

Dodging business suits and

backpacks.

There is no one to recognize Mama

In the crowded station.

But all the same, she is shy

About that laundry bag.

"Now keep close, Kasienka.

Keep close,"

Mama mutters as we leave Gdańsk Główny

And step aboard a bus for the airport

While I cling to the belt of her coat,

Too old for holding hands,

Even if she had one free.

Stansted

We weren’t on a ship.

Immigrants don’t arrive on

Overcrowded boats anymore,

Swarming wet docks like rats.

It isn’t 1920, and it isn’t Ellis Island—

Nothing as romantic as a view of

Lady Liberty

To welcome us.

We flew into Stansted.

Not quite London

But near enough.

At immigration we line up

Nervously and practice English in our heads:

Yes-thank-you-officer.

I know I am not at home

When talking makes my tummy turn

And I rehearse what I say

Like lines from a play

Before opening my mouth.

At the baggage claim

The laundry bag

Coasts around the carousel

And people look.

Someone points,

So Mama says, "Leave it, Kasienka.

There’s nothing in that bag but long underwear.

We won’t need them here.

We’ll need galoshes."

Mama is right:

The air in England is swampy,

The sky a gray blanket.

And rain threatens

To drench us.

Dwellings

Mama rented a room

In Coventry.

This is where we’ll live

Until we find Tata:

One room on the fourth floor

Of a crumbling building

That reminds me of history class,

Reminds me of black-and-white photographs

Of bombed-

out

villages.

There is a white kitchen in the room,

In the corner,

And one big bed,

Lumpy in the middle

Like a cold pierogi

For Mama and me to share.

It’s just one room, I say,

When what I mean is,

We can’t live here.

"It’s called a studio,"

Mama tells me,

As though a word

Can change the truth.

Mama stands by the dirty window

With her back to me

Looking out at the droning traffic,

The Coventry Ring Road.

Then she marches to the kitchen and

Plugs in the small electric kettle.

She boils the water

Twice,

And makes two mugs of tea.

One for her,

One for me.

Like home, she says,

Sipping the tea,

Staring into its

Reviews for The Weight of Water

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a poignant little book about Kasienka, a young Polish girl who moves to England. Told in verse, the reader experiences Kasienka's pain and feelings of alienation as she is teased and bullied based on her appearance. Ultimately, however, her strength of spirit comes shining through despite everything she has to endure. A touching read about the experiences of one young immigrant.

[emren_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book free of charge as an Advanced Readers Copy from the Texas Library Association 2013 conference.I was hesitant to pick this book up when I noticed it was written in verse. However, when I read that it was narrative rather than poems, I put aside my bias and reservations and dove in. I'm so glad that I did. Kasienka and her mother emigrate to England in search of her father. This book of verse chronicles Kasienka's struggles with a new school in a new country. She watches the devastating search for her father, is forced to accept the nickname Cassie, and is tormented by her female classmates in the cruel and unusual ways that middle school girls are best at. This is a tale of being different, of coming of age and of rebirth. It was very easy to read and incredibly touching. I think that everyone feels like an outcast sometimes and because of that it was very easy to relate to Kasienka.I highly recommend this book.

[ellsie98 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I first started this book, I was uncertain as I famously do not get on with poetry at all, and the entire novel was written in that style. I think that this really added to the uniqueness and emotion of the novel, which encouraged me into Kaseinka's shoes as she moved from Poland to Coventry in search of her father.
However, I do have to say that the raw emotion and feeling of the book, combined with the fact that it entailed no prose, was the only highlight of the book. In short, it was a story about a normal person, and a situation that people really live in - and although I would normally avoid such a book, this one surprised me.
I loved the main character, and the way her emotions were portrayed by the use of poetry as opposed to prose. I think it allowed us, as readers, to see much deeper into her mind, as instead of spending 80% of the book recounting what happened, a similar amount was spent showing us how Kasienka felt about everything that happened. And because the book was a poetry anthology, There was a lot more room for this and it made more sense to the reader to have such a vast amount of emotion, rather than in prose, which can sound repetitive and boring.
On my list of Carnegie books I want to win, I would place this second under "Code Name Verity".

[abcrane-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Generally not liking poetry, I really enjoyed this book. Poems are presented in clear language with a clear and present purpose. The Weight of Water will appeal and touch any current or former swimmer, as well as those readers that may not feel like they are in control of any aspect of their lives. It is a fun and quick read sure to make a positive impression of poetry on the reader.

[eclecticdodo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a novel in verse, a fact which put me off and intrigued me at the same time. It's a very moving story of a Polish girl who moves to Coventry with her mother in search of her missing father. I found the parts about bullying and withdrawing from close relationships especially heartfelt. Highly recommended.

[celerydog_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Satisfying novel-in-verse dealing with a Polish mother and daughter immigrating to 21C Britain, in search of the missing father. Female protagonist develops through the challenges life throws her. Realistic supporting characters. Good pick for 2013 Carnegie Medal shortlist.

[ma_washigeri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First dipped into the poems in the charity shop without realising it was a novel. Then read it cover to cover trying to go slowly. The narrative thread drives you on through the book so that it is really hard to stop reading one poem after another and the book is finished far too quickly. I loved the voice of the girl combined with the maturity of the author. Both shine through together similar to that of other favourite teenage girl characters (Dido, Emma Graham). And since finishing I have been dipping back into individual poems. Shall have to keep this book or give it away to someone special.

[ddbrown201 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really good novel in verse about a girl who moves to a England from Poland and is bulled at her new school.

[klarusu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

On the tide of her mother's hopes, carrying nothing more than the pieces of her family and her belongings in a laundry bag, Kasienka is washed up in Britain searching for the father that left them so abruptly when he left their home in Poland with no more than a brief note and much less than a suitable explanation. So begins this beautifully recounted tale of a young girl coming of age in a strange country amongst the shattered pieces of the family life she once knew.The Weight of Water is an unusual book. Told entirely in verse, there is the expectation that it will read like a series of poems or an exercise in literary styling. Instead, Crossan seamlessly crafts a story where Kasienka and the cast of supporting characters come alive from the outset, the verse making access to the characters more immediate and direct than a prose novel. Within a page or two, the verse disappears, replaced by Kasienka's voice as she tells of the painful journey she takes to become accepted in her new home and to accept her family with all their limitations.The Weight of Water is a book of differences. It is an immigrant's perspective of their adopted land and of the myriad of people who share it with them. However, it is also a book of similarities, as Kasienka slowly understands that beneath the diversity, the common desire for acceptance binds even enemies tightly. It is a story of the discomfort of adolescence, one that transcends international boundaries, and it is here that Crossan's empathy for her protagonist stands out in a perfect portrait of the painful journey Kasienka makes to unearth herself from beneath the layers of expectation placed on her. It is a story of loss, not just of her native land but of the childhood image she has of her parents as she discovers they are flawed and yet both less and more than the people she though them to be. Ultimately, it is a story of freedom though, which for Kasienka comes in the waters of the local pool as she finds her grace and strength in the furrows she cleaves as she swims. The water is not cleansing but nourishing, and as Kasienka carves the water with a singular purpose, we are left with a sense that a stronger girl will emerge with a sense of purpose as she carves a place for herself in the complicated world of adulthood.This was an innovative book and it is wonderful to see a young adult novel that is unafraid of experimenting with textual form. While Crossan does not always get the 'Polishness' of Kasienka and her family quite right, with the occasional jarring note that would only really be noticeable to someone who has had close contact with Poles, it is vastly out-weighed by her ability to realistically convey the acute agony of adolescence and a child's view of the pain of a family break-up. It is a daring but quiet novel, in the best sense of the word and comes highly recommended.

[alidevnz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just finished this and I am speechless. It is beautiful but raw. The reader sees the life of a new immigrant young girl through her eyes and it's all told in verse/poetry. It didn't strike a wrong note - it just felt perfect from first to last page. Highly recommended.

great provocation for talking about: immigration, racism, bullying, coming of age, empathy, kindness.

[jogreenway · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A must-read for anyone working in a secondary school with Polish immigrants. Beautifully describes the move from Poland to England from the perspective of a 12-year old girl. Can be read very quickly. Layout very unusual. Carnegie long list 2013. Very enjoyable. Poignant. Summarises life in England in 2013 very accurately.