Monday, April 16, 2012

Poetry Speaks Who I Am edited by Elise Paschen

A collection of poetry just for teens. Too often teens move from children's poetry to adult poetry without a pause for their own age and what it means to be a teen. Poetry Speaks Who I Am seeks to fill that gap. The collection is enhanced by an audio CD with 44 poems read by 35 poets.

What I thought: There is a need for this type of collection. I agree wholeheartedly with Elise Paschen's introduction. When I was a teen, I was reading the oldies like Frost and Dickinson. I wrote poetry and found myself imitating this poets. There's nothing wrong with that, but I wish a collection like this one had been around a decade or so ago. My favorite poems are "An Angry Valentine" by Myra Cohn Livingston, "Death of a Snowman" by Vernon Scannell, and "Used Book Shop" by X. J. Kennedy.

(Sourcebooks, 2010)

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