OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPHERD

Newman, Lesléa.  October Mourning:  A Song for Matthew Shepherd.  Somerville, Massachusetts:  Candlewick Press, 2012.  ISBN 978-0-7636-5807-6.


Plot Summary

On October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepherd, a gay twenty-one year-old university student, was lured out of a bar by two men.  They beat him, tied him to a fence, stole his wallet and shoes, and left him to die.  This collection of 68 poems gives various perspectives on this vicious hate crime.


Critical Analysis

Lesléa Newman was preparing to be the keynote speaker for an event during the University of Wyoming's Gay Awareness Week.  Matthew Shepherd was one of the students working to help coordinate the planned activities for the following week.  After attending a planning meeting of the University of Wyoming's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association on Tuesday night, he went to a bar.  Two men, pretending to be gay, lured him into their truck and drove him to a remote area outside of Laramie.  They pistol-whipped him, hitting him 18 times in the head, and tied him to a fence.  They stole his wallet and his shoes before driving off into the cold still night.  This transpired around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday night.  A mountain biker was riding past the fence on Wednesday evening around 6:00 p.m. when he spotted what he thought was a scarecrow tied to the fence.  Upon closer inspection, he found a man covered in blood with the exception of two white trails down his face where a flood of tears had washed his blood away.  The mountain biker rushed to the nearest house for help.  Although Matthew was still alive, help was too late in coming.  He never regained consciousness and died five days later. 

Assured that Matthew's assailants had been captured, Newman, with the security of a personal bodyguard, followed through with her commitment to be the keynote speaker at the University of Wyoming's Gay Awareness Week.  She called on all of the students, homosexual and heterosexual alike, to be allies in the fight against homophobia.  Stop the violence, stop the hate, and stop the fear.  Newman wrote a collection of 68 poems with her thoughts on what might be the perspectives of various objects surrounding the tragic beating of Matthew.   In addition to her poems, in the back of the book, Newman included historical data collaborating the information upon which she based her verse novel.

Newman used snippets of actual events or comments from those involved at the beginning of some of her poems.  In her poems, she imagined the perspectives of things such as the fence, the road, the truck, the state of Wyoming, the clothesline used to tie Matthew to the fence, the pistol which was used to beat Matthew, and the doe lying nearby as if she was keeping a vigil over Matthew.  Newman includes extensive notes in the back of October Mourning:  A Song for Matthew Shepherd.  She explained the various poetic forms which were used.  One of the poetic forms used was a haiku.  She explains, "a haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that consists of three lines.  The first line contains five syllables, the second line contains seven syllables, and the third line contains five syllables.  The last line of the poem often contains a moment of sudden awareness or epiphany."  Another type of poem used by Newman was the pantoum.  "A pantoum is a Malayan form of poetry consisting of four-line stanzas.  The second and fourth lines of each stanza become the first and third lines of the next stanza.  And then the first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated in the last stanza, so that every line of the poem is used twice."  Still another form was a villanelle.  "A villanelle consists of six stanzas:  the first five stanzas contain three lines, and the final stanza contains four lines.  The first line and the third line of the first stanza serve as the last line of the next four stanzas.  In the final stanza, these lines appear as the third and fourth line (the last two lines of the poem).  A villanelle also contains a rhyme scheme of aba in the first five stanzas, and abaa in the final stanza."

Some poems were fashioned after the poem "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams, which are poems of apology.  (You can view my post from February 25th to see a more detailed explanation of poems based on "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams.)  Other poetry forms included a found poem (text found in everyday life), a concrete poem (how the poem physically takes up space on the page), rhymed couplets (a poem consisting of pairs of lines which rhyme and complete one thought), a list poem (a list of things--often repetitious), an alphabet poem (all 26 letters are used at the beginning of a line in alphabetical order), and an acrostic (the first letters of each line spell out a word).  Newman models her last poem on prayers from the following:  a traditional Navajo prayer, the twenty-third Psalm, the Kaddish (the Jewish mourner's prayer), the traditional Tibetan Buddhist prayer of compassion, and from Matthew 5:5.

Throughout October Mourning:  A Song for Matthew Shepherd, Newman calls for peace and understanding.  A basic human compassion extended one to another is not much for which to ask; however, some did not even have the decency to show that little.  Newman describes the hateful actions of some after the attack on Matthew.  On the morning Matthew died, the chair of the University of Wyoming's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association and two other gay organizations received the following e-mail message:  "Congratulations on the faggot being beaten to death there in Wyoming!  I hope it happens more often!"  While Matthew lay dying in the hospital, just a few miles away a fraternity float in the homecoming parade for Colorado State University sickly depicted Matthew as a scarecrow tied to a fence with the words "I'm Gay" and homosexual slurs painted on it.  During Matthew's funeral, members of Westboro Baptist Church picketed with signs which read "God Hates Fags" and "Matt in Hell." 

Whether one is heterosexual or homosexual, there is never an excuse for hate and cruelty.  The Bible teaches us to love all people even if we do not agree with their actions.  Matthew's father, Dennis Shepherd, did just that when giving his statement during the trial of Aaron McKinney, one of the two men who beat his son leading to Matthew's death.  This is an excerpt from Mr. Shepherd's statement:  "I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney.  However, this is the time to begin the healing process.  To show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy.  Mr. McKinney, I am going to grant you life, as hard as it is for me to do so, because of Matthew....May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it."  The prosecutor could have sought the death penalty for Aaron McKinney, but because of the mercy of Matthew's family, Aaron McKinney was given two consecutive life sentences instead.  A brief article about the sentencing can be viewed at http://texasdude.com/Guilty.htm.

Readers of all ages and ways of life have a lot to reflect upon when reading October Mourning:  A Song for Matthew Shepherd.  Each person has to make the effort to stop the hate and violence.  Everyone must stand up to fight against bullying and hate crimes instead of pretending that it isn't any of their business.  Each one is put on the earth to make a positive difference in the world.  What are you willing to do to make a difference today?

Awards and Honors

Stonewall Book Award, 2013 Honor Book Children's and Young Adult Literature

     United States

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2013 American Library Association

    

Review Excerpts

“Written with love, anger, regret, and other profound emotions, this is a truly important book that deserves the widest readership, not only among independent readers but among students in a classroom setting, as well. Most importantly, the book will introduce Matthew Shepard to a generation too young to remember the tragic circumstances of his death." ~ Michael Cart,  Booklist, September 15, 2012 

"[O]n October 6, university student Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, targeted because he was gay. He died on October 12. Newman, who arrived in Laramie already aware of the attack, never forgot the anguish surrounding it and Shepard's death. In this beautiful, heartbreaking work, she explores that pain, and the tragedy that fueled it, through poems that examine what happened from multiple and often surprising perspectives.” ~ CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices), 2013

"Matthew Shepard was a gay university student who was beaten nearly to death, tied to a fence in an isolated area, and left to die. Although October Mourning is a fictional novel-in-verse, it is grounded in fact and provides (fictional) insights from various points of views. Each poem provides powerful and unique perspectives, allowing readers opportunities to think and talk about serious issues." ~  Dianna Geers, VOYA, December 2012 (Vol. 35, No. 5)


Other Books Written by Lesléa Newman

Jailbait
Write from the Heart
Still Life with Buddy

Visit her website for more information:  http://lesleanewman.com/.


Book Connections

Shine by Lauren Myracle
A Perfect Snow by Nora Martin
The Christmas Menorahs:  How a Town Fought Hate by Janice Cohn and
     illustrated by Bill Farnsworth


Connection Activities

• "In her introduction, Newman writes that the bench dedicated to Matthew is inscribed with the words "'He continues to make a difference'" (xi).  How might this book contribute to making a difference?  How has it made a difference with you?  How might it make a difference with others?"
• "Why do people bully others?"  "Have you ever been bullied?"  "Have you ever bullied anyone?"  "Have you ever witnessed someone being bullied?"  "What did it feel like?"  "Did you intervene?"  "Did you tell anyone?  Why or why not?"

These discussion topics, and many more, are from the teacher's and discussion guide located at:  http://www.lesleakids.com/OCTOBER_MOURNING_Teacher_Guide.pdf.