Book Review: This Poem is a Nest

 

Written by: Irene Latham

Art by: Johanna Wright

Published by: Wordsong, September 29, 2020

ISBN: 978-1684373635

Plot Summary

This Poem is a Nest consists of an initial source poem, titled Nest, and 161 nestling poems. The nestlings are all made up of words from the source poem. They cover numerous different topics and are divided by those topics into sections. Most of them focus on simple themes like humans or animals. 

Critical Analysis

The source poem, Nest, is separated into 4 sections, each named for a season. The first, Spring, is full of words that evoke imagery surrounding birth and infants. Obviously, a nest itself is a place where life begins with eggs hatching. In this section, it is described as a cradle, with the leaves providing a lullaby. All of these words combine to give the reader the feeling of new beginnings and unlimited potential that can accompany spring. 

Next up is Summer. This section evokes feelings of hustle and bustle. There are literally honeybees buzzing near the nest, bringing to mind the saying "busy as a bee". The robins that were hatchlings in the spring have now taken flight, leaving the nest empty during the day. This mimics a family home with children leaving on adventures to the park or pool in the summer days, with the quiet mornings as the only time the house is full. 

Autumn follows, this time with a focus on quiet preparation for the cold season to come. Numerous words in this section give off a feeling of quiet and calm- breathe, reach, whisperweight, ballet, and wordless. The nest has now been abandoned and is described as a shipwreck. This evokes imagery of the nest as a thing that was, rather than is. Its usefulness has ceased and it is a memory of what once was. 

The poem ends with Winter. In this ending is a new beginning as a mouse discovers the nest and makes it new again. We see the first sentence of the poem again "this poem has twigs in it, and little bits of feather-fluff." This repetition shows the nest's life as a continuing cycle, rather than a straight line from point A to B. The words in this section bring to mind a white, crisp, and cold winter- frost-kissed, rattlesong, chill. 

After the initial poem, the book moves into the nestlings. They are divided by themes. The first focuses on time, including poems about different times of the day as well as the months of the year. This section plays into the original organization of the poem by season and the idea of the nest's life being cyclical. There is a collection of poems that use words only found within their section- Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter. This provides a short summary of each section's focus and breaks down the feelings and imagery of the section into a short taste of the theme- birth, adventure, preparation, and cold. 

Further sections include poems about animals, humans, words, places, and then a final section titled (Out of) Time. Each section includes several short nestling poems created using the words from the source poem. It is amazing to see the creative uses of the words from the source poem and how they can create different feelings based on the other words with which they are paired and the structures used to create the poems. The Wordplay Poems are particularly delightful, using formatting to set the scene in Sneeze Poem. The simple wording "it's it's it's it's you!" is amplified with the spacing of an "it's" on each line, each one spaced further to the right, with you at the end of the line. The use of the words to mimic the sound of a sneeze will delight readers of all ages. 

Excerpt

Emotion Poems

Fear

long-buried 

chatter

turns tiger

into mouse

Lonely

Dark fate:

moon becomes

grey-

distant

        as faith

Heartbroken

open-shut-open heart

has twigs in it now

Annoyed

little stones

flap-flap--

nothing trills

Depressed

day

becomes

a tiger

Grief

dark season

when time

won't climb

What Hope Is

a cup

of stars

Faith

ancient heartbeat

of hope

Joy

it's got wings

stars,

dizzy sun

Vulnerable

sudden splash--

clouds naked

as moonlight

Brave Poem

you climb

into wild

            boat

Proud Poem

cradle

of sun

becomes a home

for you

Mad Poem

world

a box

Confused Poem

with that

or

as that?

in

or

in to?

This poem

is

            you!

When You're Happy

poemsky

expands--

you climb

up and up,

settle

into sun

Use

Have students divide into groups by choosing one of the emotion poems. As a group, they will decide how to present their poem with all members participating in some way. They can do a choral reading, divide it into parts, or have some students read while others act out the poem or choreograph movement to accompany it. Students can then pick an emotion and write a short poem for it. This poem can be a nestling from the original poem, Nest, or from another source poem the teacher chooses. 

Book Review: Death Coming Up the Hill

 

Title: Death Coming Up the Hill

Author: Chris Crowe

Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers, October 7, 2014

ISBN: 978-0544302150

Plot Summary

17-year old Ashe seems to be the only thing that his parents have in common. After marrying young when they discovered his mom was pregnant, they have drifted further apart over the years, his father blaming his mom for ruining what could have been a great football career. They have stayed together because of Ashe, but rising tensions over his mother's attendance at anti-war rallies lead her to an action that can't be undone and ultimately ends up being the final nail in their marriage's coffin. Meanwhile, Ashe has developed a strong relationship with his girlfriend, Angela. Angela's brother is fighting in Vietnam and her family is notified that he is MIA. When Ashe is caught in his parents' nasty divorce proceedings, he must make a choice between protecting his own future or that of his mom and sister. 

Critical Analysis

In the author's note, Crowe explains that the book began as prose, but didn't feel right. After deciding that Ashe's birthday would be May 17, 1951, he became more interested in the number 17. While trying to discover other examples of the significance of the number, he came upon haiku with its 17 syllables. He ended up writing a syllable for each of the 16,952 Americans killed in the Vietnam War in 1968. Even though the entire book is comprised of verses with only 17 syllables, it never seems choppy or like it lacks detail. Rather, the format moves the story along quickly, making the reader eager to continue to find out what happens next. This would be an excellent choice to suggest to a reluctant reader, as well as one interested in historical fiction. 

The book opens with Ashe and his father waiting for his mother to return home from an anti-war rally. His father is pacing "the living room like a panther ready to pounce." This sets the tone for his parents' relationship. It is obvious from the very beginning that theirs is not a relationship built on love for one another. Rather, it is love for Ashe that provides the foundation. At first glance, this could seem like a dream come true for a kid- he is the most-loved thing in both his parents' lives by far. However, in reality, this causes his family to feel fractured even before it technically falls apart. His parents' different viewpoints and interests compound the fact that his father blames his mother for getting pregnant and ruining his chances of a professional football career. Ashe mentions that "back in the 50s things worked that way"- when a baby was on the way, the parents got married. Thus, although his father claims otherwise, Ashe carries the burden of both his father's failed career dreams as well as his parents' unhappy marriage on his shoulders. 

Ashe's mom references the title of the book early on when she comes to speak to him after having a fight with his dad. She tells him that while things seem bad, "that maybe, just maybe, there was light at the end of this dark tunnel. 'You never know what's coming up the hill.' she said, and then left me alone, worrying." This statement is obviously meant in a positive manner, she is telling him that even though things in their family life are strained at the moment, that there may be happier moments for them in the future. However, the reader has an insight as to what is coming in the title that uses the same wording that Ashe's mother uses, but tells us exactly what is coming up the hill, death. At this point in the story, Ashe can't possibly know where he will end up, but he still worries. 

Foreshadowing is present throughout the text, with both nods to the actual storyline, as mentioned above, and glimpses into America's future in a larger context. Ashe states that ending the cold war between his parents is as unlikely as "a black man being elected president of the United States." He says that "it's not going to happen, but man, wouldn't it be great if it did." Writing the book in 2014, Crowe obviously knew that the United States had elected its first black president 6 years earlier. He likely included this to hammer home the fact that the US was caught in the middle of several fights in the late '60s, just like Ashe himself. Battles at home over racism may have looked different than the battles in Vietnam, but both ended up with large body counts. This may also be a nod to the fact that many Americans felt as though electing a black president would lead to a country where racism had been largely left behind. Unfortunately, we know this is not the case. 

The title of each chapter includes the month of 1968 in which it occurs, the week, and the number of US deaths in Vietnam that were printed in the papers for that week. Ashe explains that many of his classmates do not know what the number signifies when his teacher lists it on the board. This shows that he might be an outlier amongst his peers, paying closer attention to the fight across the world than other teenagers at his school. When he meets Angela, the new girl at school, she is another student who is also paying attention and we later learn that this is likely due to the fact that her brother is fighting in Vietnam. Ashe mentions that the paper usually just lists the numbers, but that if someone local has died they will include his name and sometimes a photo. Ashe describes the man in the photo in his uniform looking "dead serious" but "now he's just dead". This seems almost insensitive but may offer a glimpse into Ashe's own head, signifying his dark thoughts and the turmoil he's experiencing based on both the war abroad and the one in his own home.

The deaths become more real to Ashe when he discovers that Angela's family has not heard from her brother, Kelly, in quite some time, and when he begins to work with Reuben, who spent 4 years fighting in Vietnam. By getting to know people who had experienced the tragedy and trauma of the war first-hand, he gains empathy and the deaths become real people to him, not just numbers in the paper. A parallel can be drawn between Ashe's experience and that of many Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the threshold of 500,000 deaths has just passed, it is almost difficult for those who haven't been personally touched by the pandemic to fathom the number. However, those who have lost loved ones see the faces of their friends and family, and not just a number. 

Excerpt

As a kid, I dreamed

of becoming a hero.

War movies had taught

me that the hero

saved his buddies by diving

on a live grenade

so in our childhood

war games I always played that

guy. Someday, I thought

my valor would earn 

me a Medal of Honor.

Things changed when I got

older and learned that

real war is nothing like the

movies. I started

wondering if I

had what it took to be a

hero. Would I have

the guts to cover

a live grenade for my friends?

Would I sacrifice

my life for someone 

else? Sometimes that's exactly

what a guy doesn't

want to learn about

himself. The thing is, there are

all kinds of grenades

in life; you don't have 

to go to Vietnam to

find them. I knew that. 

Use

Read the excerpt from April 1968: Week Fifteen aloud to students. Give them time to think about the excerpt and to write down initial thoughts about it. Discuss their own experiences with things they thought as a child that they learned were different than they seemed as they grew older. Ask students to write about everyday grenades that may be in their own lives or in the lives or the lives of others. Students can share their writing with partners or with the group if they are comfortable doing so. 

Book review: Long Way Down

 

Title: Long Way Down

By: Jason Reynolds

Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, April 2, 2019

ISBN:  978-1481438261

Plot Summary

The story centers on Will, whose older brother, Shawn, is their neighborhood's most recent victim of gun violence. In the aftermath of Shawn's death, Will intends to follow "The Rules" that Shawn taught him and that have been handed down from friend to friend, brother to brother, and father to son over the years. Rule 1: No Crying, Rule 2: No Snitching, Rule 3: Get Revenge. Will finds his brother's gun and is on his way to get revenge against the man he's sure is responsible for his brother's death. But in this modern ghost story, Will is confronted with people from his past that will help him decide if following the rules is really the correct path.

Critical Analysis

Long Way Down is almost a modern-equivalent of A Christmas Carol. The central character, Will, in this case, is visited by several ghosts that help them to see things more clearly. Both Will and Ebenezer Scrooge have chosen to live their lives a certain way and these spirits, who include someone that they have loved and lost (Marley and Shawn) help them to see that the way they previously thought was correct may not be after all.

The short phrasing of the novel in verse makes it a quick read and helps to put the reader in Will's headspace. Some of the chapters are titled with the time of day that they take place, which makes one realize that the entire story spans only 60 seconds, the length of the elevator ride to the ground floor. The short time-frame of the actual elevator ride is jam-packed with 6 ghosts, each of which provides a part of the story that allows Will to discover that what he previously thought was true isn't all that it seems.

Reynolds uses metaphor to great effect throughout the book. This is obvious in The Sadness, where he compares losing a loved one to having a tooth unexpectedly and violently removed. "But the worst part, the absolute worst part, is the constant slipping of your tongue into the new empty space, where you know a tooth supposed to be but ain’t no more." Anyone who has lost someone important in their life knows the feeling of running into that empty space. It happens when you hear something and think you should tell the person or when you find yourself starting to dial their number but remembering that they won't be there to answer.

Metaphor is also present in the section And My Mom. In this chapter, Will describes his mother's reaction to his brother's death. He says that she is "hanging over my brother's body like a dimmed lightpost". This metaphor provides a more detailed description of what his mother looked like in her anguish and allows the reader to picture the scene more accurately than if he had just said that his mother was leaning over his brother. Using the word hanging makes it seem as though she is being held up by another source rather than by her own power. The fact that he describes her as a dimmed lightpost also helps to show the reader how she has "dimmed" as a person after seeing her son die.

Another technique that Reynolds uses throughout the book is creative spacing and formatting. In the chapter I've Never Been he speaks about not ever being in an earthquake but still feeling like the ground has opened up around him and ate him. The lines in this section are divided in the middle, with the left and right sides separated by a large gap. This provides a visual representation of the ground opening up and swallowing him whole, an event that would be physically possibly during an earthquake but has occurred emotionally to the main character, Will, as a manifestation of his grief.

As the elevator travels down throughout the story, each floor it stops on presents Will with another ghost from his past. The chapter Beef discusses how issues or disagreements between individuals in the neighborhood get "inherited like a trunk of fool’s gold or a treasure map leading to nowhere." This becomes apparent as the chain reaction of events that led to Shawn's death becomes apparent with the gathering of ghosts in the elevator. Buck was killed by Frick, who Shawn then killed to avenge his death. Will now thanks that Riggs killed Shawn, but is warned by his father, who he discovers killed the wrong man when trying to get revenge for his own brother's death. It can be assumed that if Will kills Riggs, whether or not he was responsible for killing Shawn, that the cycle will continue, with one of Riggs's friends or family members killing Will in return for his actions.

The ending is left open to interpretation, with the final words being the only ones that Shawn speaks in the entire book, "You coming?" We don't know what Will's response is, so the reader is able to make their own mind up. Did learning the truth about his father's own attempt at revenge and murder convince Will to break the cycle? Did seeing Shawn's ghost cry and thus break rule number 1 help him to realize that the rules don't have to be followed? Or will he follow his family members and friends and become another link in the chain that is binding them together?

Excerpt

MY NAME IS

Will.

William.

William Holloman. 

But to my friends

and people who know me

know me,

just Will. 

So call me Will,

because after I tell you

what I'm about to tell you

you'll either

want to be my friend

or not

want to be my friend

at all. 

Either way,

you'll know me

know me. 

Use

My Name Is helps to open the story and introduces us to the main character, Will. It draws readers in by promising them a story that will get to the heart of who he is. After reading this chapter, students can either write or have a discussion about the different names they go by and who in their lives calls them by each name. 

Students can choose one of their names and, if they are comfortable doing so, can share why they feel that name in particular is most representative of their real selves. They can choose a name that people actually call them or one that they feel best describes themselves that might not be one that they actually go by. 

Book review: Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku

 

Title: Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku

By: Paul B. Janeczko and J. Patrick Lewis

Illustrated by: Tricia Tusa

Published by: Little, Brown, and Company, April 5, 2006

ISBN:  978-0316607315

Plot Summary

This collection of short and fun poems makes frequent use of wordplay. It is full of topics that will make kids giggle, including everything from animals to carnivals. Kids who are big fans of puns or "dad jokes" will definitely enjoy the offerings in this book (as will readers of all ages!) The colorful illustrations add even more enjoyment to the reading experience.

Critical Analysis

Although the title of the book is "Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku", the front flap of the dust jacket lets the reader know that these poems are actually senryu, not haiku. Both forms are similar, but senryu focuses on people rather than nature. Similar to haiku, senryu is composed of 3 lines with the 5-7-5 syllabic structure found in haiku.

The poems move from one subject to the next in rapid succession, but each is self-contained so it is natural to take a brief pause between reading each one. In just one page, the reader moves from mosquitoes to mice, starting when they read "Irksome mosquito, kindly sing your evening song in my brother's ear". A near-universal experience, having a mosquito buzz in your ear is almost as annoying as, well, your brother. "Irksome" is the perfect word to describe a mosquito, and has fewer syllables than the similar "annoying", which ensures that it fits into the poem's 5 syllable opening line.

That offering is followed by "Mice dart in shadows as barn cat waits and grins . . . Ah! fast food tonight". This fun play on words will delight readers with its witty double-speak, since mice running from cats would definitely be fast, but not the fast food that children are used to. The illustrations add to the fun and quirky style of the poems. The mosquito-addled brothers are seated on the edge of a cup of tea, while the cat chases its prey around the saucer, the mice running under a sign reading "drive-thru".

The illustrations are full of fun details as well as people who have varying features and skin tones. One could spend a long time finding new and tiny inclusions in the drawings that make them as rich and entertaining as the poems themselves are.

Excerpt

Insect photographer-

introduces himself:

I'm a shutterbug. 

Use

The poems in this collection are all short and silly. They lend themselves nicely to being read aloud by students. Each student can choose a poem and take turns reciting them for their classmates. Students who may be reluctant can choose to perform with a partner or in a group and those who would like to can recite their poem individually. 

Another fun use would be to create artwork (paintings, drawings, or even small sculptures) that represent the poems. Since they are short and centered on just one idea, they can easily be transformed into artwork. 

Book Review: Friends and Foes

Title: Friends and Foes: Poems About us All

By: Douglas Florian 

Published by: Beach Lane Books, July 10, 2018

ISBN:  978-1442487956

Plot Summary

Friends and Foes delves into the relationships of children. This isn't just a "feel-good" collection of the many fun parts of friendship. It also gets into the disagreements that can be so common amongst friends. Florian explores topics such as jealousy, drifting apart from friends, teamwork, imaginary friends, and having a friend move away. The poems are accompanied by illustrations that look like they were created with crayons, giving the book a whimsical, child-like feel.

Critical Analysis

Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All definitely covers a wide-range of relationship statuses that are common for elementary-aged students. Most children and adults will be able to connect with the common themes that run through the poems in the book. The book includes brightly colored illustrations that look like they were drawn in crayon. This brings to mind the drawings in a child's journal or notebook. The people in the illustrations have varied facial features, hair color and texture, and skin tones. This is a great example of including diverse populations through the illustrations since the text does not mention them explicitly.

The first poem in the book is called What Friends are For. This poem has 4 stanzas, each of which is comprised of 4 lines in an aabb rhyme scheme. The first three lines in every stanza begin with the word "For" and they list the different concepts and benefits of friendship. The last two lines in the first stanza contain clever wordplay: "For giving, Forgiving." This will inspire readers to look at words in new and different ways. The pattern of words is broken up at the end of the second stanza, with the lines "For waiting, relating". Although the beginning of the last line is no longer "for", the word "relating" fits well into the rhyme scheme and the rhythmic sound of the poem, and also names a major component of friendship. This poem does a nice job of setting the scene for the rest of the collection.

Some of the poems include more silly parts, such as Close Friends, which describes 2 friends who are so close to one another that they "share one pair of glasses". The poem uses rhyme throughout the lines to give it a whimsical feel, but this also makes it a bit tricky to read aloud. This seems to be intentional, to almost make the reader feel like their own voice is sticking "like glue, like glue" or "like thick molasses" as the poem describes the close friends. The illustration that goes with the poem shows 2 identical friends with curly red hair, who are sharing not only a pair of glasses with 3 lenses, but also a middle eye amongst them. They would certainly be friends who had to remain close (and may literally be stuck together!)

The tone changes remarkably in the next poem, You Lied to Me. Everyone will likely be able to identify with the emotions brought about by this poem. One of the best things about this book is that Florian doesn't shy away from the rougher side of friendship and one aspect of that would certainly be having some you trust lie to you. The poem is a very honest confession of the feelings that many of us have when someone lies to us that are at times hard to convey because we don't have the words to share or don't want to admit that we've been hurt so deeply. This poem would be invaluable in a classroom setting used to show students how to share feelings in an open and honest manner. The accompanying photo shows a child holding together their heart which has been broken, with their eyes closed in an expression that truly shows hurt.

Excerpt

"I'm Better"

I'm better at hiking.

                                             I'm better at biking.

I'm better at jogging.               

                                             I'm better at blogging.

I'm better at reading.

                                            I'm better at weeding.

I'm better at riddles.

                                            I'm better at fiddles. 

I'm better at walking.

                                            I'm better at talking. 

We each can find something

                                            that better we do,

but I'll never find a friend

                                            better than you!  

Use

"I'm Better" was written as a poem in two voices. The teacher and librarian can introduce the poem by reading it aloud together. The teacher could also select two volunteers to read the poem together. This is a nice introduction to poems for two voices. There are several others in the book that partners can present on their own after listening to "I'm Better".

 

Book review: They Call Me Guero

 

Title: They Call Me Guero

By: David Bowles 

Published by: Cinco Puntos Press, November 27, 2018

ISBN:  978-1947627079

Plot Summary

They Call Me Guero tells the story of what it is like to live in a small border town. This story is woven through a series of poems, told from the point of view of a young teenage boy. His lighter skin and hair coloring have caused him to have the nickname of Guero (meaning "person with pale skin" according to the glossary included at the back of the book) bestowed upon him by his family and friends. The poems weave together family traditions that remind him of his ancestors' lives in Mexico along with modern situations, such as his desire to have a phone or his crush on a classmate.

Critical Analysis

The poems in They Call Me Guero serve to represent the most important aspects of the life of the main character, who is called Guero. The poems are a mix of English and Spanish, just like his day-to-day life in a town on the Texas border. They combine to represent his life, which will be familiar to other students who live in the area or in any place where a large group of immigrants has settled and continues to observe the traditions and culture of their former country while discovering those of the new. 

In the opening poem, Border Kid, he discusses mornings when he and his father cross back over to Mexico to visit. His father describes him as a "border kid with a foot on either bank". This can be seen as both a figurative description since they live in a place that incorporates so many of the traditions from Mexico, as well as a literal one since they live close enough to cross back over the border every Saturday. The poem furthers this idea with its use of metaphor, in the line "with Spanish spoken everywhere just the same but English mostly missing till it pops up like grains of sugar on a chile pepper." 

In Our House, it is said that their house took "years to grow" and compares it to an oak tree growing from an acorn. This metaphor describes not only the time that it took for Guero's parents to save up to buy the house but also the way that his family built it piece by piece, over time. One can visualize the house slowly growing up from its foundation- walls, roof, and then room by room being slowly added on, like the trunk and then the branches of a tree. But more than just the physical aspects have grown in the house- the things that really make it a home- memories and times spent together, have grown throughout the years as well. 

Confession tells about Guero's experience going to Catholic confession with his priest. The physical layout of this program on the page is representative of the format in which an actual confession takes place. The text of Guero's thoughts are all situated on the left side of the page, while those of the priest are seen on the right, much like he and the priest would be sitting in the confessional itself, in separate compartments separated by a wall. This poem makes reference to an earlier poem, Bottle Rocket Battle, in which Guero accidentally hits the priest with a bottle rocket during a fight with his cousins. He mentions that the priest already knows all his sins, which is true since the priest likely sees or hears all that goes on in a small town. This can also be seen as a comparison to an all-seeing God. 

One of the last poems in the book is A Sonnet for Joanna. Joanna is Guero's girlfriend, who was previously introduced in Joanna La Fregona (which the glossary lets us know means tough girl). Typically a sonnet is comprised of fourteen lines, each of which has ten syllables and this sonnet follows that pattern. Specifically, this is a Shakespearean sonnet, with three quatrains and a couplet at the end. The quatrains discuss how tough Joanna is, along with her other talents, explaining that she could beat up a bully, change the oil in a car, and help your team win an online game. However, the couplet provides a different side to Joanna, where he describes her as being "as sweet as girls can be" when it's just the two of them. This clever use of the sonnet's structure shows off all the sides of Joanna. 

Excerpt

"Ms. Wong and the Rabbit "

This year, my English teacher

opens up a whole new world to me.

I can tell right away that Ms. Wong

will be different. For example-

she has a white rabbit in her room: Nun.

White, with floppy ears. A "lop" she says.

(Bobby Lee says "Nun" means "snow" and

"Eye" in Korean- the bunny's eyes are red.)

The first week of school, Ms. Wong talks about

the Moon Rabbit. In both Korea and Mexico,

people have long believed the marks on the moon

are the shape of a rabbit, placed there by the gods.

We read Aztec and Maya myths with her,

then Chinese and Korean legends too.

My mind is totally blown. But Ms. Wong

is just getting started. She plays us a song:

"Bandal", which means "Half Moon,

a slow, pretty tune from her childhood.

  

    Gliding across the Milky Way, across the dark sky.

    A little white boat carries a bunny and a tree.

The lyrics of songs, she tells us, are just poems

set to music. I'd never thought of it that way.

Use

Play Bandal, the song mentioned in the poem for the class (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j8dAE5mlCI). Discuss what Ms. Wong said about songs being poems set to music. Students can use their devices to look up their own favorite songs to see how the lyrics are laid out in verses, similar to a poem's stanzas. Discuss the legends referenced in the poem and the similarities between the tales from different cultures.