Bibliography Franco, Betsy. 2008. Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763634377 Review & Critical Analysis This collection of one hundred poems, edited by Betsy Franco, expresses love in its varying emotions, forms, and actions through the eyes of teenage poets. These poets, from all over the world are listed only by name and age. Franco collected the poems mostly via e-mail from a diverse group of teenage writers with a contemporary and refreshing perspective. Each poem is unique and engaging in a different way. Some poems are written with rhyme, others in free verse, still others in a form all their own. The subjects range from new love to heartbreak and every nuance of love in between. LGBTQ+ love is represented, as well. The authors do a wonderful job of using words and meaning to paint vivid pictures of what it is to be a teenager in (or out) of love today. The poems are very appealing and the theme is familiar to readers young and old. Due to the content and language of this book, readership is suggested for high school age and above. Reading the poems truly creates a sense of what it is like to be a teenager today. The poems range from serious to comical, stimulating the reader’s senses and connecting to the personal events and emotions experienced through love. This book definitely gives the reader a better idea and a clearer picture of what love feels like, looks like, and sounds like from a teen perspective. This collection features the poetry of one hundred teenagers from across the world. These teens come from diverse backgrounds with diverse experiences. Some are aspiring writers while others have never written before! Each poem is incredibly personal giving the reader a sense of the person who wrote it. Even with the diversity of authorship and emotion, each poem is consistently good. The quality of the writing of these young people is incredible! This book highlights a very talented group of young writers in a way that allows the reader to connect to the emotions they experience and feel in a meaningful way. Franco includes a table of contents, as well as an introduction, guiding the reader through the poems. She also includes credits and acknowledgements for this title. The poems themselves are arranged in the format each author submitted and featured in no particular order, allowing the reader to experience love from different perspectives and in different ways throughout the course of the book. Overall, this is an incredible collection of poetry written by teenagers about a topic that is familiar to all readers. The poems are unique, creative, and thought-provoking. This title will bring back memories and pull at your heartstrings one hundred times over! Spotlight Poem Love is Like the sweetness of honey falling from a bee hive. You have to be careful not to get stung. HECTOR JASSO, age 16 This poem, found on page 78, is short and sweet, but is vivid in its imagery. Readers can hear and feel the multiple meanings and relate to its clear message of the duality of love. To introduce this poem, I would read it aloud to the class. I would then have students pair up and discuss the effect the simplistic, yet vivid imagery has on the reader. As a follow-up activity, I would have students find other poems that depict emotions simplistically, yet vividly, or create their own poem to describe an emotion, be it love or otherwise, to include in their poetry journals.
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Bibliography Powell, Patricia H. 2017. Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case. Ill. by Shadra Strickland. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452125909 Review & Critical Analysis This beautiful verse novel documents the landmark civil rights case that legalized marriage between races. More importantly, it is the story of a couple who embarked on the arduous journey to have the right to be married and live where they chose as a couple, no matter the color of their skin. The poems in this verse novel are simple, yet incredibly emotional and deep. Each is written in free verse, varying in length. Some poems are pages long, while others are just a few lines. The perspective of each poem switches between Mildred (Millie) and Richard as their story evolves. The voices of each person are clear and consistent, creating different emotions. You can feel the love and desire between them, Richard’s anger at their situation, Millie’s fear while in jail, etc. Powell does an incredible job of creating a detailed scene for each poem in just a few short words. The reader is able to easily understand how each character feels, creating a lasting emotional connection to the Loving’s story. One of the most striking elements of the poetry in this verse novel is its historical connection. The experiences and topics covered have an incredible historical significance and can help readers develop a deeper understanding of this time in our nation’s history. Being that it is a verse novel, it is a much faster, and, in my opinion, easier read than a typical nonfiction title. The poems help the reader think and feel as if they were in the character’s shoes, creating an emotional connection that brings history to life. Even with the switching perspectives and length of time covered by this novel, the poems remain consistent and engaging. They stimulate a range of emotions that help the reader connect with the characters and more fully understand the social and emotional impact of living during this historical period. The voices of the characters are distinct and vulnerable, allowing the reader to walk in his/her shoes. Powell helps the reader to understand the legal and social context of the poems by providing inserts with pictures, quotes, and images of actual legal documents in the text. The poems are arranged in chronological order starting in the fall of 1952 and carrying through until June of 1967. The poems switch perspectives between Mildred and Richard, which is indicated in the title of each poem along with the date and sometimes the location in which that part of the story took place. Powell also includes an epilogue, a timeline, and a bibliography that includes all of the personal interviews she conducted, written material she used, and images included in the book. These images include snapshots of demonstrators, bus burnings, and even President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act. Powell also includes credits to the text excerpts and quotes she uses throughout the story. One of the most beautiful elements of this book are the illustrations created by Shadra Strickland. At the end of the book, Strickland explains the style of the illustrations and the background from which they came. She also gives some insight into how she went about creating them. These illustrations add a new, meaningful context to the story, and are placed intermittently throughout the book. This verse novel is an incredible work of history, culture, and art. It not only tells the personal story of the Lovings, but also includes important historical information that brings the story to life. Powell’s vivid imagery and well-developed characters create a deep emotional connection that engages the readers and keeps them reading, and hoping, for the outcome the Lovings deserve. Spotlight Poem MILDRED ONE MONTH LATER JUNE 1957 Mama says, “I guess you’re serious about that boy.” “Yeah, Mama, I am.” “Bring him round to dinner.” Richard comes for Sunday dinner – one o’clock sharp. Aunt Coree Johnson comes, most of my brothers are here. Mama boils chicken, collards, turnips. I slice bread we baked this morning. Garnet fries last year’s apples. And we have rice pudding for dessert. The cream is from our cow who I milked this morning, eggs laid by our chickens. Richard has sate here many times. But today we have on the checkered tablecloth because he is my special guest. The table is heaped with food, Sidney in a basket alongside me, family crowded around. Richard grabs my hand under the table, at the same time he slips the napkin off my lap, puts it on his. Still holding his one hand, I grab for my napkin. But he won’t let me have it. I can’t help but giggle – having our own conversation with no words under the table hidden by the cloth, while everyone else talks over the top of the table. This poem, found on pages 105-106, highlights the loving relationship between Millie and Richard. They belonged to a segment of society that did not see others differently based on the color of their skin, as shown by their touching story and this novel. It is hard to believe that the Civil Rights Act was signed only 53 years ago. Discrimination and prejudice still exist, but what the Lovings endured is almost unimaginable. I would introduce this poem to students by reading it aloud. After reading, I would introduce the story of the Lovings and the effect segregation and discrimination had on them and their relationship using other poems from the book. I would use these poems in context with a study of the Civil Rights Movement and Civil Rights Act. As a follow-up activity, I would have students find and collect poems from other people who were affected by discrimination and prejudice, or poems written about those peoples. As a class, we would create an anthology including a brief history of the time period and events surrounding each poem picked. This anthology could be included in the classroom or library collection for students, staff, and community to refer to and read in the future. Bibliography Janeczko, Paul B. 2011. Requiem: Poems of the Terezín Ghetto. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763647278 Review & Critical Analysis In his moving, historical poetry collection, Requiem: Poems of the Terezín Ghetto, Paul B. Janeczko recreates the lives of the Jews living in Theresienstadt. Hailed by Hitler as an artistic haven for Jewish artists, it was actually little more than a Czech way station for its residents as they made their way to the concentration camps and gas chambers. Janeczko recreates the lives of the people who lived there with moving poetry, beautiful illustrations (by the residents themselves), and characters who bring this place and the times in which they lived to life. Each poem, told from the perspective of different residents of Terezín, leaves a lasting emotional impact in very few words. Janeczko is able to bring the feelings and emotions of each character to life in a realistic and impactful way. You feel their sorrows, their anger, their joy, and their hope. You also feel the bone-crushing despair and fear that grips them as they see their friends and loved ones die or leave, never to return. The simple poems create a vivid picture full of language, rhythm, and sound that stick with the reader. The poems included in this book take on the perspective of multiple characters, most of which are based upon Janeczko’s research and are mostly fictional. Even so, each character is incredibly realistic, and in just a few lines, connects the reader to new experiences and emotions. The experiences of the characters, though foreign to most readers, are powerful, moving, and create connections to the feelings of oppressed peoples all over the world. The historical connections to the Holocaust and World War II, along with the intense emotional imagery are insightful and appealing to readers of many different levels. The overall quality of the poems and the book are very high and consistent. Each poem introduces a new perspective or event from the Terezín Ghetto. The poems cross many moods and emotions, leaving the reader feeling sad, angry, scared, defiant, sick, restless, and even hopeful. These poems truly bring to life what it was like for the people who lived and died in this place. Janeczko does a wonderful job of keeping alignment in the purpose of the poems while moving through the emotions and experiences of the characters. Even with the deep and emotional subject matter, a glimmer of hope and resilience shines through, leaving a lasting emotional impact on the reader. Each poem is titled with the character’s name and their identification number. The character then tells their piece of the story in a short, free verse poem. Along with the poems, Janeczko includes black and white illustrations, many of which were drawn in the Terezín Ghetto by the artists that lived there. These illustrations, credited at the end of the book, depict life in the Ghetto and the emotions the residents felt during their time there. Janeczko also includes an afterword with further information about the Terezín Ghetto, an author’s note with information about his research and motivation, and a list of selected sources for further reading and research. Also included is a list of foreign words and phrases used throughout the book with their origin and meaning, as well as art credits for the illustrations. The table of contents at the beginning of the book guides the reader and provides a quick glance at the characters in the book. This collection of poetry was an incredibly moving and memorable read. I especially loved how Janeczko was able to include such an array of emotion in so few lines. I was also impressed in the amount of research he conducted, as well as his inclusion of events and characters with deep cultural meaning. Janeczko did not shy away from a subject that can be dark and heavy. In doing so, he created a piece of poetry that gives light to the plight of oppressed people through the voices of the Jewish men, women, and children who lived, died, and hoped in the Terezín Ghetto. Spotlight Poem Marie Jelinek / 17789 The doors of the cattle car rumbled, opened. We spilled onto the platform, eager even for snow and wind. We found floodlights barking dogs vile shouts from SS soldiers. Shoves and commands – “Line up! Hurry!” – were met with screams crying names called in darkness. Crammed through the Schleuse, where papers were issued and most of our belongings stolen, replaced with promises. Beasts of burden, we shouldered bundles of what pieces of the past we were allowed to keep as we joined the river of fear a current of shuffling feet, sobs, and whimpers that crept past dark mouths of archways and windows to Terezín. This poem, found on pages 7-8, depicts Marie Jelinek’s arrival at Terezín. The desire to feel fresh air is replaced by the fear and chaos of being herded toward the camp that would become her home, and very likely a gateway to the gas chambers. The emotion in this poem, from having belongings taken away, to possibly being separated from loved ones is palpable. This poem (and this collection of poetry) would be a wonderful complement to a social studies unit on World War II and the Holocaust. I would introduce this poem by first reading it aloud. After reading, I would ask students to share what emotions the poem depicted. What words did the author use to create an image in the reader’s mind? After reading and sharing, I would share other poems written about World War II and the Holocaust with the students, including poetry written by those who experienced it. As a follow-up activity, I would ask students to select a poem about this time period. Together, we would create an anthology of poems depicting the people, events, and emotions, as well as the effects each had to share with our school community. Bibliography Eleveld, Mark. 2003. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks MediaFusion. ISBN 9781402202469 Review & Critical Analysis This is a unique title that not only provides examples of spoken word poetry and encourages its performance, but also tells the history of performance poetry and describes its new generation, including slam poetry and hip-hop. Compiled from poets, writers, and artists across generations and styles, this is an incredibly diverse collection of engaging and modern poetry. Each poem included in this collection is unique in its elements. Throughout the collection, you can find poems that use figurative language to create dynamic emotions and images, poems with sounds and rhythm that transport you to a different time and place, and poems that leave a lasting emotional impact through these elements. Readers will find many poems that are appealing, especially with their hip-hop, rhythmic elements. Some of the poems are on the longer side, considering they are meant for performance, which may not appeal to all readers. However, included with this title is a CD of many of the poems performed by the artists that wrote them. This is great for readers who are interested in this type of poetry, but many not have the stamina to read them completely. The poems cover a wide range of topics and can help building knowledge of different life experiences through the lens of authors and poets from diverse and varied backgrounds. Even though the experiences of the authors may be different from the reader, each poem does a fantastic job of communicating and demonstrating different linguistic elements and personal experiences. The accompanying CD is a tremendous resource that further supports understanding of the poems as they are listened to aloud. Just like with any kind of poetry, hearing it read (or performed) by the author creates an entirely different experience than reading it yourself. You truly feel the emotions, feelings, and rhythm around which that author built the poem. The overall quality of the poems is consistent, with the editor and advisor selecting high-quality, relevant examples of this style of poetry. The poems reinforce the theme and purpose of the book with their strength and use in performance poetry. Each poem stimulates the reader’s emotions and feelings in different ways, while keeping a rhythm consistent with performance poetry. This collection features the poetry of many artists, including Patricia Smith, Tara Betts, Jeff McDaniel, Roger Bonair-Agard, Bob Holman, Regie Gibson, DJ Renegade, Jean Howard, Luis Rodriguez, Saul Williams, and many more. Each of these poets brings a different perspective and style to their poetry, creating a dynamic collection that captures the essence of performance poetry past, present, and future. The Spoken Word Revolution is arranged into six parts, including a prologue by Billy Collins, poet laureate, and an epilogue. There is also a section about the editors and the biographies of the contributing poets are included, as well. A table of contents, index, acknowledgements, and credits are also provided. There are several photographs of the poets performing their pieces, helping the reader to visualize the poets on stage. The included CD is a wonderful resource that allows the reader to hear poetry being performed, providing a guide for the rhythm and sound of this type of poetry. When looking for a title that included poetry for performance, this book immediately jumped out to me from our collection. It is one that is in constant rotation by our students, and one which they use to plan their own poetry and performances for our yearly Poetry Slam. Students will often select poems and pieces from this book to practice to gain familiarity with the rhythm and style of performance poetry. Even though it is a lengthy title, it is one that is easy to navigate and provides great resources for the history and origins of performance poetry, as well as its impact on our society and culture today. This is a title that I will continue to promote and share with our students. The powerful rhythm and language used within is appealing to young adults and encourages personal expression and poetry performance. I would definitely recommend this title for high school and up, as many of the poems contain mature themes and profanity. Spotlight Poem First Period half way through first period dust accumulated on the sweaty palm of my raised hand must be a centimeter thick by now as the chicken-legged teacher goes around the room defacing students homework from last night with red pen graffiti that focuses more on missed commas than the content of the sentences he finally decides to acknowledge me “Mr. Derrig, why do I have a feeling that this is another one of your dumb comments. You constantly waste my time. Why don’t you just drop out or something?” why don’t I just drop out why don’t I just drop out! and it was at that moment that all statistics began to make sense to me statistics of children whose mouths water more for the many taste of society corner slanged penicillins than the cardboard texture of diplomas with pipes more important to fill than class requirements statistics of classes cut to avoid battlefields full of aggravated shrapnel from teachers with exploding tempers teachers with magnifying glasses at the end of pointers who feed off the brightness of surrounding students to singe holes in the esteems of those who need just a little more help than others I wanted to turn my shot-down hand into a fist I wanted to hit him ‘til he was incapable of speaking anymore but I didn’t want to become another number in overflowing manila folders of children arrested in school and we wonder why a gun seems to fit perfectly in the hands of this generation’s adolescents ladies and gentlemen I’m writing this poem to highlight that which has been stuck like gum underneath wobbly desks free from parental eyes only to mess the hand of those who have to sit there I’m writing this poem to speak for all the rows of children before me who remained voiceless in the cracks of school and its sound proof text books I’m writing this poem for all the children who have not yet been named the ones that will one day have to fill these rows I’ve been struggling in only to enter classrooms where they’ll be shot down for what they feel ladies and gentlemen the future of America is being crushed between the molars of power-hungry tyrants who think class rooms are boot camps and if we have any teachers in the audience I urge you to understand that the hand you grab the chalk with the hand you grab those red pens with the voices you speak with are oversized chisels and you must proceed to teach with caution for what you say and what you do is written in stone and if you chisel too hard these minds can crack “So what don’t you understand now, Mr. Derrig?” I just wanted to know if I could go to the bathroom This poem, found on pages 220-221, is written and performed by Kevin M. Derrig. It discusses a common feeling that many students share; a feeling of being judged, dismissed, and treated unfairly by their teachers. The way Derrig compares the teacher to a chisel and the student to stone is creative and paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. The themes of the poem are identifiable and understandable by students and readers of all ages. I would introduce this poem by playing the track from the included CD of Derrig’s poetry performance. After listening, I would ask the students what stood out to them. What phrases, words, language, etc. did the author use that painted a vivid picture in your mind? What is your take away from this poem? Do you agree with the author? Have you felt the same way? As a follow-up activity, I would encourage students to find a piece of performance poetry that speaks to them. They could then share it with the class (in print, video, or audio format) or perform it themselves. This would be a great way to introduce the idea of performance poetry and begin to form a foundation to eventually host a poetry slam for students. Bibliography Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. Ill. by Rick Allen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 9780547152288 Review & Critical Analysis This 2011 Newbery Honor book introduces the reader to the forest at night through an enchanting and mesmerizing collection of poems. Joyce Sidman is known for her outstanding poetry and this title does not disappoint! Each poem, accompanied by the illustrations of Rick Allen and a brief informational paragraph, engages the reader in a learning experience, deep in the woods at night. Each poem introduces a different element of nature and its behavior/characteristics at night. The subjects range from animals to plants to fungi, and are as descriptive as they are entertaining. Sidman literally takes the reader into the forest and brings the subject to life through words. You can smell the damp air, feel the ground beneath your feet, and see each subject in its natural habitat. Each poem has a different rhythm and feeling. Some rhyme, some use shape to convey meaning, and others play on lines and white space to create a different rhythm. Even though the poems range in their form, they all create a vivid picture that engages the reader and brings the subject to life. The poems in this title are mesmerizing! Sidman truly engages the reader in discovering each subject and brings its habitat to life. Even if readers have not visited the forest at night (or in day) or have never seen the subject of the poem, the language, accompanied by the beautiful illustrations paints an engaging picture that will keep the reader reading. The poems are easy to understand, and provide a great background for the habits and characteristics of nocturnal animals and forest plants. The poems maintain a consistent quality and present information in engaging ways. Each poem is accompanied by a beautiful illustration done through relief printing and hand colored with a water color called gouache. The illustrations bring each subject to life and can each stand alone as a true piece of art. The paragraph included with each poem describes the subject of that particular poem, providing further scientific and background information. For example, the spotlight poem below “Welcome to the Night,” is accompanied by a paragraph describing the characteristics of the raccoon that make it a successful hunter at night, as well as what food it may find hidden in the forest. The information accompanying each poem is specific to its subject and provides interesting and insightful information that may help the reader make important connections. The book also has a table of contents and a glossary to help readers better understand the specialized vocabulary in the book. The poems in this book are outstanding! They are reflective, interesting, and thought-provoking. From the various forms of poetry, to the engaging subjects, this is a book that lends itself well to sharing and use in the classroom for enjoyment and cross-curricular connections. Spotlight Poem Welcome to the Night To all of you who crawl and creep, who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep, who wake at dusk and throw off sleep: Welcome to the night. To you who make the forest sing, who dip and dodge on silent wing, who flutter, hover, clasp, and cling: Welcome to the night! Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze, come smell your way among the trees, come touch rough bark and leathered leaves: Welcome to the night. The night’s a sea of dappled dark, the night’s a feast of sound and spark, the night’s a wild, enchanted park. Welcome to the night! This poem, found on page 6, is the first poem in this book. Sidman does an incredible job of using language to paint a picture! You can feel, smell, and hear all that is happening around you in the forest through the words she uses and the elements she describes. I would introduce this poem by reading it to my students in the dark. After reading, I would ask the students to draw a picture or write down what the felt, heard, smelled, or saw. I would have students pair-share, then discuss as a class what words Sidman used to create those feelings, sounds, smells, and sights. As a follow-up activity, I would use this poem in conjunction with a science unit researching nocturnal animals. After reading the poem, and providing students with access to multiple copies of this book, I would encourage them to create their own poem describing a nocturnal animal, its habitat, and/or its characteristics. Students could then compile their poems into a classroom anthology to revisit throughout the year. |
AuthoRMy name is Mrs. Scott and I'm a secondary Media Resource Specialist (librarian) in Texas. This blog was created as part of my graduate coursework at Texas Woman's University. All reviews and opinions are my own. Archives
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