Get personalized recommendations and earn points toward a free book!
Before you go...
Check Out These
21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
See the List
Your Own, Sylvia by Stephanie Hemphill
Read An Excerpt

Look Inside | Teacher’s Guide

Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt

Your Own, Sylvia

A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath

A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath

By Stephanie Hemphill

By Stephanie Hemphill

By Stephanie Hemphill

By Stephanie Hemphill

By Stephanie Hemphill
Read by Various

By Stephanie Hemphill
Read by Various

Best Seller
Paperback $7.99

Dec 23, 2008 | 272 Pages | Young Adult

Ebook $4.99

Dec 10, 2008 | 272 Pages | Young Adult

Audiobook Download $10.00

Mar 03, 2009 | 292 Minutes | Young Adult

All Formats
+
    Your Own, Sylvia by Stephanie Hemphill
    Paperback
    Dec 23, 2008 | 272 Pages
    See All Formats (2) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $7.99

      Dec 23, 2008 | 272 Pages | Young Adult

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook $4.99

      Dec 10, 2008 | 272 Pages | Young Adult

    Audio
    +

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About Your Own, Sylvia

    Your Own, Sylvia draws on Plath’s writing and extensive nonfiction sources, chronicling Hemphill’s interpretation of Plath’s life from infancy to her death by suicide at age 30. The poems are arranged chronologically and each conveys an experience in Plath’s life told via the voice and perspective of family members, friends, doctors, fellow writers, etc.—as interpreted by Hemphill. Each poem is accompanied by an addendum that further explains the factual circumstances of that poem’s subject. The book also includes an Author’s Note, some photos, a section describing the source material for each poem, and suggestions for further reading.

    About Your Own, Sylvia

    On a bleak February day in 1963 a young American poet died by her own hand, and passed into a myth that has since imprinted itself on the hearts and minds of millions. She was and is Sylvia Plath and Your Own, Sylvia is a portrait of her life, told in poems.

    With photos and an extensive list of facts and sources to round out the reading experience, Your Own, Sylvia is a great curriculum companion to Plath’s The Bell Jar and Ariel, a welcoming introduction for newcomers, and an unflinching valentine for the devoted.

    About Your Own, Sylvia

    Your Own, Sylvia draws on Plath’s writing and extensive nonfiction sources, chronicling Hemphill’s interpretation of Plath’s life from infancy to her death by suicide at age 30. The poems are arranged chronologically and each conveys an experience in Plath’s life told via the voice and perspective of family members, friends, doctors, fellow writers, etc.—as interpreted by Hemphill. Each poem is accompanied by an addendum that further explains the factual circumstances of that poem’s subject. The book also includes an Author’s Note, some photos, a section describing the source material for each poem, and suggestions for further reading.

    Read An Excerpt

    Teacher’s Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Teacher’s Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Teacher’s Guide

    Also by Stephanie Hemphill

    Sisters of Glass
    See all books by Stephanie Hemphill

    Also by Stephanie Hemphill

    Sisters of Glass
    See all books by Stephanie Hemphill

    Also by Stephanie Hemphill

    Sisters of Glass
    See all books by Stephanie Hemphill

    About Stephanie Hemphill

    Because in her journals, letters, and fiction, Sylvia un-bandages wounds and wonders that most people don’t want to admit exist. Because she tells dangerous truths. “This is what it is like to be complete. It is horrible.” Sylvia forges through… More about Stephanie Hemphill

    About Stephanie Hemphill

    Because in her journals, letters, and fiction, Sylvia un-bandages wounds and wonders that most people don’t want to admit exist. Because she tells dangerous truths. “This is what it is like to be complete. It is horrible.” Sylvia forges through… More about Stephanie Hemphill

    About Stephanie Hemphill

    Because in her journals, letters, and fiction, Sylvia un-bandages wounds and wonders that most people don’t want to admit exist. Because she tells dangerous truths. “This is what it is like to be complete. It is horrible.” Sylvia forges through… More about Stephanie Hemphill

    Product Details

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Poetry | Teen & Young Adult Historical Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues

    Paperback | $7.99
    Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers
    Dec 23, 2008 | 272 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | Young Adult | ISBN 9780440239680

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Poetry | Teen & Young Adult Historical Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues

    Ebook | $4.99
    Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers
    Dec 10, 2008 | 272 Pages | Young Adult | ISBN 9780307493590

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Poetry | Teen & Young Adult Historical Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $10.00
    Published by Listening Library (Audio)
    Mar 03, 2009 | 292 Minutes | Young Adult | ISBN 9780739380864

    People Who Read Your Own, Sylvia Also Read

    ‹ ›
    The Here and Now
    Being Sloane Jacobs
    Don't Even Think About It
    The Green Man
    Belle Epoque
    The Last Song
    The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine, Book One)
    Love and Other Perishable Items
    The Girl in the Park
    Foretold
    Dearly, Beloved
    Sister Mischief
    Poison Tree
    Butterfly
    The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls
    The Revenant
    Wanderlove
    Scored
    You Have Seven Messages
    Juliet Immortal
    Texas Gothic
    The Summer I Learned to Fly
    On the Day I Died
    Bad Taste in Boys
    The Warlock
    Dear George Clooney
    Flip
    Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales
    The Queen of Water
    Girl Parts
    Daughter of Xanadu
    La pirámide roja
    Angel Burn
    Real Live Boyfriends
    The Secret to Lying
    Trash
    Stork
    Vixen
    Finnikin of the Rock
    Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots
    The 10 PM Question
    Another Pan
    The Agency 2: The Body at the Tower
    Grease Town
    Dante

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, February 2007:
    "[R]eaders come away with a sense ofreally knowing Plath . . . a must for any young-adult reader of poetry or Plath."

    Starred review, Booklist, February 15, 2007:
    "[A]n intimate, comprehensive, imaginative view of a life, which also probes the relationships between poetry and creativity, mental fragility, love, marriage, and betrayal."

    Starred review, The Horn Book Magazine, March/April 2007:
    "Hemphill’s verse, like Plath’s, is completely compelling: every word, every line, worth reading."

    Awards

    ALA Best Books for Young Adults Top 10 WINNER 2008

    Booklist Books for Youth Editors’ Choice WINNER 2007

    Kirkus Reviews Editor Choice Award WINNER 2007

    Michael L. Printz Honor Book WINNER 2008

    Printz Honors WINNER 2008

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    Download our Spring Fiction Sampler Now
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!