The Way a Door Closes

Title: The Way a Door Closes

Author: Hope Anita Smith

Illustrator: Shane W. Evans
Genre Study - Mixed Genre

Have you ever heard the phrase, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”? The phrase itself is meant to be inspiring because it reminds people to carry on and be strong despite how tough things may get.  But, what would happen if the going got tough and you just gave up? This is something that is all too real to 13 year old C.J. in Hope Anita Smith’s The Way a Door Closes when his father decides to walk out on his family after losing his job. Because of this, C.J. is forced to be the “man of the family” for awhile and try to hold his family together. As C.J. finds out, this is a tough burden for anyone to bear but he never loses sight of what is important. Even more important is that he never loses faith in his father. Despite his actions, he believes that someday his father will come back to them and everything will be right in the world once more. 

Told in a series of short poems that give the reader insight on C.J.’s life, I found this book to be one of the most inspiring children’s novels I have read thus far. The characters in the story are real and are easy to connect to. Each poem is beautifully written and carefully adds to the overall tone/message the story is trying to portray. By the end of the novel I found myself in tears. Who knew that a series of poems could be just as moving as a story? I was certainly pleasantly surprised. Even the illustrations were wonderful – they were so full of life that they literally felt like snapshots of pictures of memories from C.J.’s life. 

This is definitely a book I would want to include in my classroom library for several reasons. First, I believe it is important because the book shows a strong African-American male character who steps in to take care of his family in the hardest of times; and second, for the fact that it is a realistic story about the absence of a parent that, sadly, many students would be able to relate to. I know firsthand that as a child this can be such a traumatizing event. It would be nice for students to have a book to turn to and a character they could relate to during their time of need.  At the same time, I believe that even for students who couldn’t relate to the character’s story firsthand would be moved by the book and find it to be quite enjoyable.