Novel in Verse Review — Dear Mothman — Gow

 Dear Mothman

Written by Robin Gow

Bibliography:

Gow, R. (2023). Dear mothman. Amulet Books.

Summary:

Mothman is a novel in verse about a sixth grade trans boy named Noah. Each poem is in perspective of his inner thoughts, the inner thoughts of another character, Hanna, or in the form of letters to Mothman and other characters. Though the main plot of this book revolves around Noah looking for Mothman and trying to get proof of his existence for a science fair project, the themes of it delve deeper as Noah is also dealing with massive amounts of grief after losing his best friend, Lewis (another trans boy), in a car crash just months before the book takes place, as well as coming to terms with who to reveal his new name to. 

Analysis:

First, I had to get an interlibrary loan for this book, and after reading it, I immediately put in an order to have it at my library. From the beginning, it was clear this book was going to be dealing with the hard loss of a twelve year old losing their best friend so suddenly, which is a hard-hitting topic itself, but each poem adds more and more complexity to the main character's (Noah) journey. The reader discovers that Noah and his late friend Lewis are both trans boys and get to follow Noah's state of mind as he starts slowly revealing his identity to people outside of Lewis - first his new friends, then his parents, then his teacher, and at the end the whole school. The author, Robin Gow, identifies as trans, so you can definitely feel the personal complexities of the self-identification that is portrayed through Noah. One moment that made me feel worried for Noah, and mad for him, was a time in the cafeteria when one of his friends refers to him as Noah to a group of their classmates instead of "Nora," which was how everyone else still knew him. This is often a thing for a lot of LGBTQ+ people. Well-meaning people close to them can accidentally out them, but it being an accident doesn't make it any less painful.

Noah is also autistic, which is mentioned a couple of times. There were a couple of instances that I thought it was a bit on the nose for him to mention an autistic trait and immediately follow it up with "it's because I'm autistic." Even though this is for a middle school age range, I think more credit should be given to the reader to figure out that connection for themselves. That being said, there was a good example of an autistic trait that wasn't blatantly pointed out toward the end of the book. Noah is confused when his friend (and crush) cried after getting a prize at the science fair because it was a good thing, not a sad thing. I'm glad the author left a moment of Noah not understanding emotions completely in without over explaining why because Noah himself probably wouldn't understand that it's because of his autism that he doesn't get it.

As for form, every poem is free verse - there is no rhyme scheme and there are few repeated verse patterns with length, syllables, or the amount of lines. The lack of rhyme is explained within the text: Noah writes a letter to Mothman explaining that he doesn't like his poetry to rhyme. 

There are a few illustrations throughout the novel; some are drawn by Noah and are just pictures of Mothman in various scenarios (in class with him, at the front door, grabbing a cupcake from Lewis, etc.), and others are storytelling devices. There is a drawing "from Mothman" of a waterfall left in Noah's journal that he leaves for Mothman as well as a drawing of the leaves Noah leaves for Mothman to throw in a river (this was something he did with Hanna to let go of inner turmoil). 

This is a poetry book that speaks deeply to the reader. I wanted to cry with Noah whenever he missed Lewis. I also related to him so much at the end when he started realizing he was forgetting some sayings Lewis would say or how he would behave in certain situations and started feeling guilty for losing those parts of his friend. It's hard to remember every detail of a person when they pass, and it is so easy to feel guilty like your dishonoring them by not having a perfect memory. 

Excerpt:

Dear Mothman,

Thank you for trusting me

and coming to visit my camera.

I know it's hard being

what people might consider "a monster."

It seems to me that "monsters" 

are almost always misunderstood—

that "monster" is what people become

when other people are afraid of them

for being different.

People like me are called monsters sometimes.

There was this ad that played between cartoons

for some organization.

It was about bathrooms.

The commercial showed a man

walking into a women's room and it said

"we have to protect women and children

from predators."

At first, I didn't understand.

Then it clicked. They were talking

about trans people using bathrooms.

I know this because I watched a trans YouTuber

react to ads like this. The ads are sad

but watching another trans person talk about them

made me feel not alone about it at least.

I only found trans YouTubers a few weeks ago

and I want to send every single video to Lewis.

Lewis would have been a good YouTuber, come to think of it.

I have never used 

a boys' room. I haven't even told my teacher I'm a boy.

I want to wait till maybe high school—

maybe longer. Sometimes I feel like you.

Showing yourself only as a blur 

in a few seconds of video.

Sometimes it's hard to feel real.

It's hard to even feel trans because

people don't believe us, but I know who I am.

I know you believe me, though.

Your fellow "monster,"

Noah

Activity Idea:

Noah holds on to the idea of finding Mothman so strongly because of his connection with Lewis (Lewis was confident that Mothman is real), so his search for Mothman is his way of coping. But, he also finds commonality with Mothman in the way they are both misunderstood and might be seen as "monsters." Mothman is a cryptid that has become a social figurehead for a lot of the queer community over the last decade or so. I think a fitting activity to embrace this would be to have the kids look up cryptids on their own and find one they think they could relate to. This would include giving a reason why, from something as simple as location, or maybe something deeper like how Noah feels with Mothman.