Precipice Fruit

Precipice Fruit tells the story of Jenna, a young girl with an autistic spectrum diagnosis whose spirit transcends the stigmatizing forces around her. Often pigeon holed, manhandled, and misunderstood by her doctors and teachers,Jenna blossoms into a young girl with a perspective entirely her own. Different points of view clash against each other in this series of poems-the cold objectivity of the clinician, the private terror and faith of the mother, the punitive decree of the...
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Precipice Fruit tells the story of Jenna, a young girl with an autistic spectrum diagnosis whose spirit transcends the stigmatizing forces around her. Often pigeon holed, manhandled, and misunderstood by her doctors and teachers,Jenna blossoms into a young girl with a perspective entirely her own. Different points of view clash against each other in this series of poems-the cold objectivity of the clinician, the private terror and faith of the mother, the punitive decree of the teacher, the spirited self-narration of the child. These voices struggle against each other, leaving us to consider how institutions author children with a disabilities, and the harm they do in the process.

In the poem "At the Library," the speaker declares "When we go in, we go through." This is the journey we are taken on in Sara Biggs Chaney's Precipice Fruit. Co-opting the language of the clinician, of the I.E.P. summary, of the fearful parent, and finally the child, she weaves these disparate voices into a single narrative. We begin at what is unknown and therefore fearful, and we end on what is unknowable and therefore filled with hope. It is a deft examination of love, grief, and the reclamation of joy. ~ Liz Kay, editor burntdistrict