A selection of the work of 26 (not 25) young poets makes up this varied collection, musing on topics from personal identity to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Nye’s introduction artfully sets a tone that encourages readers to remember the experience of being under 25—it is humming and evocative, but an odd choice for a volume at least ostensibly intended for teen readers. The poets employ a range of styles and write in drastically different voices with the result that most will find something they like. Lauren Espinoza’s darkly humorous couplets draw office workers into analogous companionship with vampires in “death & taxes,” while Allison River’s sparse, musical lines in “Even Before You” paint a brief, lovely image. Jonah Ogles’s quiet but fierce scenes of rural farm life in “Belle Union, Indiana” contrast with Henry Mills’s searing picture of immigration in “Run.” Still others, such as Catherine Bates, write with a breathtaking intensity about family violence. Teen poets will be a natural audience, as will adult teachers of young writers. (Poetry. 14-25)
