Adoff creates a moving meditation on the roots of American blues. The poet explores the profound relationship between the enslavement of Africans and the music born of that brutalization: “This New World music m o v e s with shackle sounds.” Recurring metaphors flow through the 60 poems, riffing on trauma and triumph. Metal, for one: the clank of chains on ships and chain gangs; a hoe striking rock; the reverberating steel of guitar strings and piano wire. Blood signifies death but also “the / r i c h / red / c h i l d / b i r t h / c o l o r / o f / j o y.” Spare, spondaic lines pulse, connecting the mundane (church, cooking) with the music’s transcendence. Some poems center on specific performers. The poet wryly considers Robert Johnson’s alleged bargain with the devil: “We can still tell that story and smile as we sing his words. His soul is in his songs and his songs live deep on blue e a r t h.” Christie’s Expressionistic acrylics employ a palette of crimson, teal and brown, reserving grays for faces and hands, linking shackled slaves with sharecroppers, rocking grandmothers with juke-joint dancers. An incandescent, important work. (Poetry. 8 & up)
Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-23554-7
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Striking photographs of birds that might be seen in the eastern United States illustrate this new collection of 14 poems in varied forms. From bald eagle to marbled godwit, the range is wide. It includes familiar feeder birds like chickadees, birds of ponds and shores like wood ducks, hooded mergansers and sandpipers, as well as less-common birds like the great horned owl, rufous-sided towhee and cedar waxwings. Semple's splendid photographs show birds in the wild—flying, perched in trees or on slender reeds, running along the sand and even bunched on a boardwalk. The colors are true, and the details sharp; careful focus and composition make the birds the center of attention. Yolen’s poems comment on these birds’ appearances and their curious actions. An eastern kingbird is "a ninja of the air," and “...oystercatchers, unafraid, / Continue on their stiff parade.” The mockingbird’s “Threesome Haiku” matches his triple repetition of the tune he mocks. Some of the poetry limps, making an easy point rather than enlarging the reader’s understanding, but some is memorable. Perhaps most effective is the rhythmic “Terns Galore”: "Turning terns are all returning / There upon the shore." Short sidebars add interesting, informative details about each species and Donald Kroodsma, a well-known ornithologist, has added a short foreword. This is a welcome companion to A Mirror to Nature and An Egret’s Day (both 2009). (Informational poetry. 8-11)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-830-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Performance poet Holbrook teams up again with Sandstrom (Zombies! Evacuate the School!, 2010), combining quirky, accessible verse with lively digital cartoons to explore the dynamic topic of friendship, while offering points of entry for would-be poets to harness their own thoughts on the subject. Introducing the notion that, “Your poem is your idea in your voice,” the poet encourages readers throughout the volume to use her poems as a springboard for their own writing. She offers numerous examples of writing as a pathway to bettering one’s mood, managing anger, assuaging guilt and overcoming loneliness. Those poems whose explicit topic is friendship, however, stand out both in the subtlety of their effect and insight. Though its title doesn’t exactly set the poetic ear a-tingle, “Walking on the Boundaries of Change” teaches kids how to recognize true friendship: “Some friends will dare danger, / mock or push each step. / Some friends / knock your confidence. / Real friends / form a net.” Likewise, “Confidentially Speaking” reveals the deeper meaning behind the physical horseplay that often characterizes a close bond: “We poke. / We shove. / We jerk around / and no one can suspect / that when we push away / like that / for a moment— / we connect.” A playful yet thoughtful look at the many manifestations of friendship—through words, teasing, physical play—just right for the mid-elementary crowd. (Poetry. 8-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-821-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
