SLOW DANCE HEARTBREAK BLUES
by Arnold Adoff & illustrated by William Cotton
In a collection of verse, Adoff (In for Winter, Out for Spring, 1991, etc.) addresses the early teen years, ``this/time/from/trolls/to/tampax.'' He speaks to the generation that goes to school with metal detectors, worries about the whales, witnesses casual drug use, and is also anxious about nose picking and being ``t o o y o u n g.'' Poems about kissing, ``zit monsters,'' junk food, and ``the way the sun/glints off your lower brace'' reflect typical adolescent preoccupations with perfect love and imperfect bodies. Each line is laden with empathy; the pieces are good for a browse, but lack the depth or emotional resonance to give them bite. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Poetry. 10-14)