Irene Gach Lá

Graham, Joan. 2014. THE POEM THAT WILL NOT END. Ill. Kyrsten rBooker. Las Vegas: Amazon Publishing. ISBN 9781477847152.  The POEM THAT WILL NOT END is the story of a boy who cannot stop writing poems. Throughout his day and everywhere he goes, he write poems across topics and formats. From Going Bananas at breakfast to Couplet for French Fries during lunch, he writes and writes and writes. When he is finally required to write a poem in class, his mind goes blank. His teacher accepts the poems he wrote throughout the day instead. CRITICAL ANALYSIS The concept is excellent, but some of the poems are a bit forced. Since poetry is designed to be heard by the reader, it’s evident that some of the poems are adjusted to force a rhythmn. For instance, on page seven: I tried to eat my breakfast But didn’t hesitate To scribble on the napkins And doodle cross my plate. If you examine the last line, the word “cross” is written, but it should be “across....

Hopkins, Ellen. 2009. TRICKS. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division. ISBN 9781416950073.  TRICKS takes us on the journey of five teens descending into the seedy world of teen prostitution. Eden is the daughter of a preacher. Her mother sees demons in Eden’s first brush with love and sends her off to prevent whorish behavior, which Eden ironically learns at the ranch where she’s sent. Cody deals with the devastating loss of his stepfather to cancer by spiraling downward into the world of gambling. He soon will sell anything to pay his increasing debts. Seth is looking for love and acceptance of his homosexual identity, only to be accused by his father of being a deviant; then, he becomes one. Whitney desperately seeks love from her socialite mother and successful father. She wants to be seen and noticed by them, but will accept the love of a stranger to replace her familial invisibility. And finally Ginger, who is tricked for the fi...

Heard, Georgia, ed. 2012. THE ARROW FINDS ITS MARK: A BOOK OF FOUND POEMS. Ill. by Antoine Guiloppé. ISBN 9781596436657.  Found Poetry . What is it? Where do you find it? Why is it important? Before I wrote my review of THE ARROW FINDS ITS MARK, I had all of these questions and more. Found Poetry is everywhere. If you can spot it somewhere in your environment, or read it somewhere in a piece of text, Twitter, Facebook, etc., then you can recreate it into Found Poetry . Found Poetry is a re-imagining of words which already exist in some form.  For instance, these are my last five Facebook updates from friends. They are dated March 1, 2014: Happy, Happy March! Wrapping it up before the big storm Night fishing has turned into day fishing. Fish=1 Jack =6 I'm a beaver? I didn't see that one coming! Leaving for tape clinic (Pre-contest) Here is the Found Poetry I created from these updates: Night fishing has turned into ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Florian, Douglas. 2010. SHIVER ME TIMBERS. Ill. by Robert Neubecker. New York: Knopf. ISBN 9780375843754. CRITICAL ANALYSIS Ahoy, matey! SHIVER ME TIMBERS is a topsy-turvy poetry collection which even the scallywags will love! Aargh!  This really is a bookful of fun. Florian delights with 19 rhyming poems all about the life of pirates. It’s playful, but sneaks in a fair amount of historical information. Florian includes poems about piracy terms, the code of conduct, pirate flags and even too much turtle food.  Turtle Day Turtle eggs for breakfast.  Turtle stew for lunch.  Turtle shell for dinner.  Crunch!  Crunch!  Crunch! While SHIVER ME TIMBERS might be light-hearted, it is no lightweight. The poems encourage participation through anticipatory rhyming for young children. At the end of each poem, there is a final line which serves as an “Aha” moment for the reader and leads to higher-level think...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Grimes, Nikki.  2004.  WHAT IS GOODBYE? Ill. by Raúl Colón.  New York: Hyperion Books for Children.  ISBN 0786807784. CRITICAL ANALYSIS Death is an uneasy topic to explore for any children’s author. Done well, it helps kids to process loss in their own life. Done poorly, it can retraumatize a child struggling with their own grief. WHAT IS GOODBYE? is an exploration of grief done well. Told in the alternating voices of brother and sister Jesse and Jerilyn, distinguishable by the font color of their poems’ titles, i.e. Jesse in blue and Jerilyn in orange, WHAT IS GOODBYE? examines their emotional journey in the year following their older brother, Jaron’s, death. Through the poems, Grimes siphons off the pain of death and sorrow in order to reach healing. Jesse shows his grief via outward struggle, as in the poem His Name. His Name ~ Jesse Mommy won’t say Jaron’s name So I write it everywhere, On the walls, my book, his...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Mora, Pat. 2010. DIZZY IN YOUR EYES; POEMS ABOUT LOVE. New York: Knopf. ISBN 9780375843754. CRITICAL ANALYSIS DIZZY IN YOUR EYES is a collection of 50 poems written by Pat Mora. The narrative voices of the poems are youthful, although there are different perspectives offered throughout the collection. The theme is, naturally, love. In her author’s note, Mora categorizes the collections as a symphony with four movements, each representing a piece of love’s cycle. The first poems explore young love with all its giddiness and joy. Then, the poems transition to the challenges and heartache of enduring love. As a balm, the third movement offers healing; and then, in true cyclical form, Mora guides the reader to fall in love again. Cycle complete.  Sprinkled throughout the collection are references to poetic forms. Found on the bottom, lefthand side of the page, Mora provides the name of specific poetic forms followed by explanations. They are in gray ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Hopkins, Lee Bennett, ed. 2010. Sharing the Seasons . Ill. By David Diaz. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN 978-4169-1832-5. CRITICAL ANALYSIS SHARING THE SEASONS is a collection of 48 poems chosen by Lee Bennett Hopkins. This is an upbeat collection which will teach the seasons to younger readers, while enriching the older ones. The poems are organized around each season with twelve poems per section, each bringing forth the mood and rhythm of its season. The book begins with Spring and then cycles through Summer, Fall and Winter. Lee Bennett Hopkins anchors each section by contributing the first poem. His second stanza is repetitive across all the sections with the pattern always / always introducing a vivid seasonal action, like always / always / cloud-bursting showers for Spring. The remaining authors vary, although some poets appear more than once. Readers might recognize contributors, like Marilyn Singer and April Wayland, from other poetry bo...