On December 14, 2012, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, twenty-six people were shot and killed. The fatalities included twenty children and six adults. Pattie Marsiglio’s Echos Of Cries Unheard is inspired by this very tragic event and it is extremely heart-wrenching. And this collection also deals with other topics like the forgotten American heroes, the shame of being a sexting victim, a policeman downed by a bullet, prejudice, an abandoned child, and many more. Some of the poems tell about the unbreakable bond between mother and child like Dirty Little Secret and Love Your Child. The echoes that come out of this book certainly reverberate long after you read its last page, and that is perhaps what Pattie Marsiglio aims to do.

The emotions that are creatively bundled together in Echos Of Cries Unheard are simply overpowering. Marsiglio’s style is prose-like and is as powerful as any figure of speech that usually makes up a poem. This is probably because she writes from the heart and her empathy is embracing. It is as though her heart is burdened by all these voiceless persons who are going through their painful experiences, and she tries to give them that voice. Indeed, as we go through our busy lives, we forget about the children killed in Sandy Hook and the grieving families they left behind. We are shocked when tragic events take place and after that, we go on with our lives until the next tragic event takes place again and again. Patti Marsiglio gently reminds us to care in any way we can!

Echos of Cries Unheard by Pattie Marsiglio is a collection of poetry that was first inspired by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, with the first three poems written in the immediate aftermath. Following that, the collection moves on and focuses on topics such as American heroes, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, injustices such as the deaths of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, and more personal stories, such as her father’s battle with alcoholism, emotional abuse, and growing up in poverty.

The majority of the poems are written from a first person point of view which helps readers easily relate to each poem’s speaker. Marsiglio often references Christianity and displays a strong sense of faith throughout the book, but her strongest poems are those that center around family. You can truly feel the affection she has for them through her words, each poem like a love song dedicated to those she loves most.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was how Marsiglio included the dates that all her poems were written. It is interesting to see how she, as a person, processes events, particularly in regards to more personal moments such as the loss of her mother or the birth of her children. One of the poems for her sons was written in 1972, with another poem focused on her daughter written in 1987, and others written in 2015, but looking back at the past. In doing so, Marsiglio not only shows the progression of time and her life-long love of writing, but how she has grown as a writer and been shaped by her family and children.

Echos Of Cries Unheard by Pattie Marsiglio is a poetry book motivated by the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings. Although it is labeled as a poetry book, I found it to be more prose written in the form of diary or journal entries. A little bit of Pattie’s background is explored throughout the book since, as mentioned before, this book takes the form of journal entries. Naturally, considering that the book is based upon the innocent killings of young children by a mentally ill young man, a lot of the writing revolves around children, their innocence, and the world we live in where this type of unnecessary violence happens. The book also contains some pictures and personal recollections from the author.

Echos Of Cries Unheard by Pattie Marsiglio is a book that surprised me because of its somewhat unique format. Indeed, at times it felt like it was part-memoir. That being said, the tragedy of that day and the lives of innocent children lost is expressed in an empathetic and genuine manner. Overall, I thought Echos Of Cries Unheard was well-written with a single theme running throughout in various forms.

Excellent writing, is a heartfelt, poignant book.