The Poetry of Car Mechanics by Heidi E.Y. Stemple

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Janice at Salt City Verse for Roundup.

ICYMI: Click here for information about the Open Call for a new middle-grade poetry anthology, The Periodic Table of Poetry, coming from Lerner in 2028 with poems selected by Irene Latham and Charles Waters. We can't wait to read your poems!

Heidi with The Poetry of Car Mechanics

Today (while I am talking poetry at NCTE), I'm excited to welcome Heidi E.Y. Stemple to share about her beautiful new verse novel The Poetry of Car Mechanics (Wordsong, 2025). (The title makes me think of the old classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Ha!) 

Publisher's description: 

Dylan seeks solace through birdwatching and poetry in the woods behind his grandfather’s auto shop—but when he rescues an injured hawk, he must learn to confront the broken parts in himself in this powerful middle-grade novel-in-verse.

As is the tradition here at Live Your Poem, I've invited Heidi to respond to 4 simple prompts. But before we get to that, here are two poems excerpted from the novel. The first, because of its truth. I don't want it to be true, but it is. And isn't it our job to be honest with kids?

 The second, because I love how clearly the distinction is made between "mentally ill" and "crazy." Kids need this message.

Broken

Nature is cruel

to broken creatures.

Lame—

be it claw

or mind—

a long 

cold

starving 

season.

Or worse.

---

Counselor's Office

So much time

in the school counselor's office

has been spent 

untangling

mental illness

from

crazy.

I know the difference.

Mentally ill

is a diagnosis.

Crazy is a feeling.

But young me

was all feelings

and didn't understand

diagnosis.

So many days,

from where I stood,

my life felt

crazy.

And now here's Heidi!

FRESH

Heidi writing at Highlights

HS: I have written many things—from board books through adult short stories (well, only one of the latter) but a novel? That was going to be new for me. My friend, editor Eileen Robinson told me she wanted me to write a boy-centered novel. I thought that, perhaps, I wanted to, someday, try to write a verse novel. But, certainly not a boy novel… So, as an exercise in futility, I tried to create the most ridiculously testosterone-filled title. Hence THE POETRY OF CAR MECHANICS. I sat down and wrote the first poem. Then, I wrote a second poem. By the end of the day, I had 19 poems and I was hooked. I wanted to know more about Dylan. I wanted to read his story. In order to do that, I had to keep writing. 

But, how do you know that a book is in the right voice? When I am teaching, I challenge my students to find new ways to look at their story. I have them try changing the tense, the point of view, or the style. So, after I had written 38 poems, I did this myself. I opened a new document and began at the beginning. I wrote Dylan’s story in prose. It was fun. I was able to wiggle around in the details so much more. I enjoyed fleshing out the scenes and digging in further into the landscapes and textures. “This is it,” I thought. “This is the way to tell this story.” 

Then I reread the poems. With fresh eyes on Dylan’s story, it was clear—so clear—that, although, writing the story in prose was fun and less complicated, the poetry was the correct way.

DIFFICULT

HS: I liken the writing of THE POETRY OF CAR MECHANICS to writing 200 picture books, then revision 200 picture books. The process of creating a verse novel is, in my opinion, more intense than that of a prose novel (I’m in the middle of the revision of 4 of those, too). Though, I do think my experience as a picture book author did help. The space between poems is like the page turns of a picture book. The compression and economy of words is so important in both forms… there are many similarities.

But, honestly, the most difficult part of writing this book was the subject matter. There are many themes, but one of the most important is mental health, specifically, that of Dylan’s absent mother. I have received many emails from people commenting about how real this book feels in relation to their experience of navigating the mental health issues of their own loved ones. That is not just craft, it’s from experience. One of the most important things for me, as the author, was to treat Dylan’s mother with respect, but, at the same time, to allow Dylan to feel real feelings. He had to be able to be angry, embarrassed, sad, confused and even say things that, maybe, I was uncomfortable with, because his words weren’t always how I would like mental health issues to be portrayed. I did not want to stigmatize or villainize Dylan’s mother, but, if I sanitized what he was feeling, it would be less authentic. That balancing act was probably the most difficult part of writing this book.

DELICIOUS

HS: There is something magical about writing, especially poetry, when you realize all the pieces of your story fit together in a way you had not planned. There are lots of themes (or motifs) in this book that, when I started out, felt so separate. There is the mental health piece, car mechanics, birds, politics, masculinity, poetry… I had no idea how they would all mesh. Then, as I wrote, they started to bond in unintended and really special ways. Small ways-- Many cars are named for birds. And, big ways--an injured bird, a mentally ill mother, cars, and the world we live in, all feel like they need fixing.

Honestly, this is the part of writing I love the best. Just like Dylan says (of car mechanics) in the first poem. it’s “part poetry, part meter and math.”

If you’re a writer, you know the magic I’m talking about.

ANYTHING ELSE

HS: I feel so honored when anyone takes the time to read something I’ve written. When you’re writing, it is so internal, so personal. To let others in on the story… it’s terrifying. But, it’s also a gift. I am proud of all my books. I love each of them with my full heart. But, this one came from a very special place. It’s a completely made up story, but it’s as close to the bone as one can get in fiction. So, if you’ve read it, thank you. Thank you.

Tom Ricardi with a friend

Also, a little fun bit—when I got about half-way through the first draft, I went to visit my friend, raptor rehabber Tom Ricardi. I asked him a ton of questions to make sure the bird parts were plausible and he brought me around his facility. All the birds you meet in the pages of THE POETRY OF CAR MECHANICS, those are all straight from Tom’s real birds. I gave him part of my advance to continue saving birds. When I brought him his copy, he read it and brought it around to all his neighbors showing them “his book.”

-----

So many thanks to Heidi for visiting! Readers, don't miss Dylan's story. Good stuff!

And now for today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO. Wow, it's exciting to be heading into the homestretch now, with just 5 more Picasso poems to write! In honor of Heidi's visit, today I've chosen to write after one of Picasso's owl ceramics. Thanks so much for reading!

O, to Be an Owl; O, to Be Wise

by Irene Latham

First you'd have her eyes.

You'd like to see the world

the way she does, with such

clarity in low light.

And the way she sits still,

so still. A round moon

disappearing, becoming

one with her perch.

What you really want is to hear

with her ears, to savor

that symphony of heartbeats

singing from beneath three feet of snow.

How does she choose,

how does she know?

No one sees her coming.

She is all rustle and swoop,

feather rippling, her body

a quiver of arrows pointing

to the next right thing.