An ambitious but not completely successful entry in the Poetry for Young People series (see Bolin, below). The format is admirable: a handsome sampler of poems, with a short introductory essay, unfamiliar words briefly defined in footnotes, and a few prefatory sentences for each poem to establish context and aid interpretation. Fittingly, 13 of Poe's more accessible poems appear here, including ``The Raven,'' ``The Bells,'' ``Eldorado,'' and ``Annabel Lee.'' The volume concludes with passages from short stories, laid out in lines like verse; they highlight Poe's mastery of prose, but, without context, are not otherwise particularly meaningful. A larger concern is the less-than-meticulous presentation of the poems. Readers confronting Poe's unfamiliar diction need all the help they can get; inaccurately reproduced are word choices, order, line layout, punctuation, etc. Bagert does not indicate which standard edition he usedthere may not be onebut even a variorum (ed. by Floyd Stovall, 1965) did not support some questionable usages. In her first book, Cobleigh provides atmospheric art: an arresting picture of ``The Raven,'' a cadaverous ghoul in ``The Bells,'' and a depiction of the narrator of ``The Tell-Tale Heart'' as a deranged Wee Willy Winky. (index) (Poetry. 10+)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8069-0820-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss.
It’s 1983, and 13-year-old Indian American Reha feels caught between two worlds.
Monday through Friday, she goes to a school where she stands out for not being White but where she has a weekday best friend, Rachel, and does English projects with potential crush Pete. On the weekends, she’s with her other best friend, Sunita (Sunny for short), at gatherings hosted by her Indian community. Reha feels frustrated that her parents refuse to acknowledge her Americanness and insist on raising her with Indian values and habits. Then, on the night of the middle school dance, her mother is admitted to the hospital, and Reha’s world is split in two again: this time, between hospital and home. Suddenly she must learn not just how to be both Indian and American, but also how to live with her mother’s leukemia diagnosis. The sections dealing with Reha’s immigrant identity rely on oft-told themes about the overprotectiveness of immigrant parents and lack the nuance found in later pages. Reha’s story of her evolving relationships with her parents, however, feels layered and real, and the scenes in which Reha must grapple with the possible loss of a parent are beautifully and sensitively rendered. The sophistication of the text makes it a valuable and thought-provoking read even for those older than the protagonist.
An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss. (Verse novel. 11-15)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304742-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A story that sings to the soul.
Elio is in love for the first time—and he has no idea what to do about it.
Eighth grader Elio Solis is only 13, but he’s met the girl of his dreams. His feelings for Camelia are so profound that he sees things in ultraviolet: “Whoever heard of having your whole vision / change because you met some girl?” Growing up in East Oakland, California, Elio is trying to navigate social media, friendships, his family’s Mexican culture, and his changing body—all part of his quest to understand what it means to be a good boy who will grow into a good man. What does that look like when your father takes you to cockfights and your mother warns you about toxic masculinity? Most of all, how do you handle the crushing blows of a first heartbreak? Written in Salazar’s stunning and highly accessible verse, with Spanish words contextually woven in and easily understood by non-Spanish speakers, this novel stands out for the thoughtful way it expresses a young boy’s perspective as it discusses topics such as masculinity and consent. Elio and his dad join Brothers Rising, a group started by Fernando, Elio’s best friend Paco’s dad, which offers them community and a framework for honest conversations about coming of age and masculinity, as well as a beautiful rendering of Indigenous Mexican rituals.
A story that sings to the soul. (Verse fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781338775655
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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