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CARL SANDBURG

Name: CARL SANDBURG
Author: Frances Schoonmaker Bolin
ISBN: 0-8069-0818-1

edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin & illustrated by Steven Arcella ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1995

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A lavish offering of 33 of Sandburg's shorter poems, part of the Poetry for Young People series (see Bagert, above). Selections such as ``Fog,'' ``Arithmetic,'' ``Phizzog,'' ``Doors,'' and ``Jazz Fantasia'' display the range of everyday topics in which Sandburg found beauty, humor, or pathos. ``A Homely Winter Idyl'' is included as an example of one of his infrequent departures from free verse, and ``Skyscraper'' gives readers a taste of what the poet could do with a longer form. Following series format, unfamiliar words are helpfully defined in footnotes (though there is no word on the derivation of ``phizzog'' from ``physiognomy''), and an introductory biographical essay establishes a context for the poems. Arcella makes a grand debut; his intensely colored sculptural forms, carved from dramatic shadows, have a distinctly '30s look to them: the firm-jawed stalwart in overalls and bill cap opposite ``Young Sea'' and the construction worker standing atop the solid steel beams of an unfinished skyscraper might have come straight off solidarity posters. (index) (Poetry. 8+)

Pub Date: June 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-8069-0818-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

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LOCOMOTION

by Jacqueline Woodson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2003

Don’t let anyone miss this.

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Count on award-winning Woodson (Visiting Day, p. 1403, etc.) to present readers with a moving, lyrical, and completely convincing novel in verse.

Eleven-year-old Lonnie (“Locomotion”) starts his poem book for school by getting it all down fast: “This whole book’s a poem ’cause every time I try to / tell the whole story my mind goes Be quiet! / Only it’s not my mind’s voice, / it’s Miss Edna’s over and over and over / Be quiet! . . . So this whole book’s a poem because poetry’s short and / this whole book’s a poem ’cause Ms. Marcus says / write it down before it leaves your brain.” Lonnie tells readers more, little by little, about his foster mother Miss Edna, his teacher Ms. Marcus, his classmates, and the fire that killed his parents and separated him from his sister. Slowly, his gift for observing people and writing it down lets him start to love new people again, and to widen his world from the nugget of tragedy that it was. Woodson nails Lonnie’s voice from the start, and lets him express himself through images and thoughts that vibrate in the different kinds of lines he puts down. He tends to free verse, but is sometimes assigned a certain form by Ms. Marcus. (“Today’s a bad day / Is that haiku? Do I look / like I even care?”) As in her prose novels, Woodson’s created a character whose presence you can feel like they were sitting next to you. And with this first novel-in-verse for her, Lonnie will sit by many readers and teach them to see like he does, “This day is already putting all kinds of words / in your head / and breaking them up into lines / and making the lines into pictures in your mind.”

Don’t let anyone miss this. (Fiction. 9-13)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-399-23115-3

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
REMEMBER US
by Jacqueline Woodson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORLD BELONGED TO US
by Jacqueline Woodson ; illustrated by Leo Espinosa

- BOOK REVIEW
THE YEAR WE LEARNED TO FLY
by Jacqueline Woodson ; illustrated by Rafael López

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THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES

by Kate Messner ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2025

An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism.

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A summer spent summiting the Adirondacks allows a teenager to reckon with grief.

Thirteen-year-old Finn Connelly’s summer is off to a rocky start. In addition to several incomplete class assignments—including a poetry project about heroes—he’s facing vandalism charges after an angry outburst at the local cemetery. To avoid paying thousands in fines that his family can’t spare, he reluctantly agrees to the proffered alternative: climbing all 46 Adirondack peaks over 4,000 feet by Labor Day accompanied by Seymour, the enthusiastic dog who belonged to the woman whose headstone he damaged. As Finn attempts the hikes, he wrestles with what it means to be a hero, a term often used for his deceased father, a local hockey legend, New York City firefighter, 9/11 first responder, and paramedic who died on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. This verse novel is engaging and easy to follow. It encompasses varied structures, like haiku, sonnet, and found poetry. Other ephemera, such as letters, recipes, and school progress reports, create visual breaks evocative of a commonplace book. The first-person narration vividly conveys a disgruntled teenager’s feelings, including moments of humor and contemplation. The novel wrestles with loss and legacy intertwined with weighty events, challenges, and themes—PTSD, alcoholism, toxic masculinity—and their resulting impact on Finn’s emotional well-being. The supporting characters are encouraging adult role models. Characters present white.

An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 10-14)