Booked

Although the poems use second-person point of view, they portray Nick’s distinct voice. For example, the poems use the phrase get this in moments of surprise and tension. The phrase occurs when Nick is frustrated about a teammate’s injury or marveling at the Ghanaian chocolate bar Coby gives him. The phrase also occurs in the title of a poem: “Inside the Bag is, Get This, FREEDOM.” It’s such a distinctive phrase for Nick that when April says it to him on the phone, Nick is surprised: “(Did she just say get this?)” (220)

Erasures are poems based on existing texts. The poet scans a page for random words to create a new message, and she marks out all other words on the page. Nick creates an erasure from a page of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, leaving a humorous and irreverent message that amuses Ms. Hardwick and Mr. MacDonald. Although the erasure is clever, it shows that Nick doesn’t take reading very seriously. The Mac creates an erasure of his own, inspired by Nick, and the message pointedly encourages the boy to read. Nick finally starts to appreciate books, thanks to The Mac and April. He reads a book for pleasure and creates an erasure from one of the pages, giving it to The Mac for his birthday to show appreciation for the bowling librarian. Nick’s poem reads, “bowling / against / The / mac / is / serious / Bubba / . / he / g ot / game” (284).

Every time Nick sees Mr. MacDonald, the librarian wears a shirt with a reading-related pun printed on it. One says, “I Like Big BOOKS and I Cannot Lie” (163), while another says “putyourFACEinaBOOK” (224). These shirts demonstrate The Mac’s goofy personality and love of reading, which he hopes to encourage in Nick as well. Having fun with words and books, as The Mac does, is also one of the book’s primary themes.

Mr. MacDonald’s library is filled with dragonfly imagery. Nick is most interested in The Mac’s dragonfly box, which he keeps locked at all times. He also calls the box Freedom. When Nick asks what’s inside, The Mac raps, “Ya gotta have the key / Ya gotta have the key / Ya gotta have the key if ya wanna be free” (282). When The Mac moves away, he gives Freedom to Nick, who is awestruck when he opens the box. The writer does not reveal what’s inside, but seeing it gives Nick the confidence to face his fears and confront the Eggleston twins.

Nick has an active imagination. He daydreams about playing against the soccer team Real Madrid during English class and defeating the Eggleston twins when they bully him and Coby in the cafeteria. While memorizing “S” words in Weird and Wonderful Words, Nick takes a liking to sweven, which means “a dream or vision in your sleep” (142). Shortly after, Nick dreams about the stresses in his life and his hopes for the future. He also thinks he is dreaming when April visits him in the hospital in a poem entitled, “This has got to be a sweven.” Although Nick resists reading, he comes to enjoy books like All the Broken Pieces, because reading puts his powerful imagination and extensive vocabulary to work.