For a class, or to work up enthusiasm about writing—and not just poetry—one could hardly do better for young people than this fresh and inviting collection. In a series of letters, usually addressed to the young poets reading the section, contemporary poets write a page or two of inspirational how-to and then add a poem or two of their own. Janeczko has gathered some wonderful contributors, many of whom have made a career not only in writing but in writing for young people: Janet S. Wong, Naomi Shihab Nye, Karla Kuskin, Nikki Grimes, X.J. Kennedy, Joseph Bruchac, Douglas Florian, and many others. Like a favorite poem, their advice has rhythm and repetition: observe; read a lot; listen to words; write and write; revise; say your poetry out loud. The title comes from Kristine O’Connell George’s notion of seeing stories not in the clouds, but in “the blue between.” Andrew Hudgins has a wonderful one-page essay on the benefits of reading poetry in the bathroom. “Poetry names the secrets you didn’t know you were keeping,” says Robert Farnsworth. Teachers and librarians will love this, too—as a classroom tool and as a way of explaining the art of poetry lucidly. (notes on contributors with thumbnail photos, index of first lines, acknowledgements) (Poetry. 10-15)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-0881-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION
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Part browsing item, part therapy for the afflicted, this catalog of irrational terrors offers a little help along with a lot of pop psychology and culture.
The book opens with a clinical psychologist’s foreword and closes with a chapter of personal and professional coping strategies. In between, Latta’s alphabetically arranged encyclopedia introduces a range of panic-inducers from buttons (“koumpounophobia”) and being out of cellphone contact (“nomophobia”) to more widespread fears of heights (“acrophobia”), clowns (“coulroiphobia”) and various animals. There’s also the generalized “social anxiety disorder”—which has no medical name but is “just its own bad self.” As most phobias have obscure origins (generally in childhood), similar physical symptoms and the same approaches to treatment, the descriptive passages tend toward monotony. To counter that, the author chucks in references aplenty to celebrity sufferers, annotated lists of relevant books and (mostly horror) movies, side notes on “joke phobias” and other topics. At each entry’s end, she contributes a box of “Scare Quotes” such as a passage from Coraline for the aforementioned fear of buttons.
Sympathetic in tone, optimistic in outlook, not heavily earnest: nothing to be afraid of. (end notes, resource list) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-936976-49-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Zest Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION
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A busy page design—artily superimposed text and photos, tinted portraits, and break-out boxes—and occasionally infelicitous writing (“Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie became . . . bandleader of the quintet at the Onyx Club, from which bebop got its name”) give this quick history of jazz a slapdash air, but Lee delves relatively deeply into the music’s direct and indirect African roots, then goes beyond the usual tedious tally of names to present a coherent picture of specific influences and innovations associated with the biggest names in jazz. A highly selective discography will give readers who want to become listeners a jump start; those seeking more background will want to follow this up with James Lincoln Collier’s Jazz (1997). (glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8239-1852-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION
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