Poetry Books for Young Adults

Anthologies of poetry

There are a number of excellent collections of young adult poetry, some by adult poets and others by adolescents themselves. Patrice Vecchione has edited several anthologies that should appeal to adolescents including The Body Eclectic: An Anthology of Poems (2002) and Truth and Lies (2000). Another anthology compiler is Paul Janeczko, who often combines information about poets with their poetry. His Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets (2002) is a compilation of letters and poems from 32 poets that provides advice to adolescent writers. Other excellent poetry anthologies by Janeczko include the classic Poetspeak: In Their Work, about Their Work (1983), The Music of What Happens: Poems That Tell Stories (1985), The Place My Words Are Looking For: What Poets Say about and Through Their Work (1990), and Looking for Your Name: A Collection of Contemporary Poems (1993). Some of his more recent anthologies include Stone Bench in an Empty Park (2000) and Blushing: Expressions of Love in Poems and Letters (2004).

Adolescents often enjoy poems written by teenage authors. For example, the San Francisco Arts Commission’s WritersCorps provides a workshop for young authors. Their yearly volume includes excellent poetry that is sometimes combined with prose or even photography. Some of their more recent volumes include Believe Me, I Know: Poetry and Photography by WritersCorps Youth (Bush, 2002) and Jump: Poetry and Prose by WritersCorps Youth (Bush, 2001). Another collection by teen writers is Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice (2000), edited by Dave Johnson. This anthology consists of poems by participants in New York Public Library poetry workshops or by teens who submitted their work via the Internet. Esther Pearl Watson and Mark Todd checked teen magazines and combed Internet sites to develop the anthology The Pain Tree and Other Teenage Angst-Ridden Poetry (2000). Finally, You Hear Me? Poems and Writings by Teenage Boys (2000), collected by Betsy Franco, contains the frank and sometimes raw emotions of adolescent boys.

While boys and girls often appreciate the same type of poetry, there are times when their interests turn in other directions. In I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine: Poems for Young Feminists (1993), Carol Ann Duffy has collected poems that explore women’s issues; likewise, in I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You: Paired Poems by Men & Women (1996), Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul B. Janeczko present pairs of poems.

Many young adult poetry anthologies incorporate multicultural poetry. Some of the classic collections are I Am the Darker Brother, which was compiled by Arnold Adoff in 1968 and expanded and updated in 1997, and The Whispering Wind: Poetry by Young American Indians (1972), edited by Terry Allen. Pierced By a Ray of Sun: Poems about the Times We Feel Alone (1995), featuring poems selected by Ruth Gordon, is an international collection that focuses on individual alienation and loneliness. Another favorite that focuses on young adult concerns (e.g., school and the future) is Lori M. Carlson’s Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States (1994), in which she includes poets such as Sandra Cisneros and Gary Soto. Other collections about the Latino experience are Wáchale! Poetry and Prose about Growing Up Latino in America (2001), edited by Ilan Stavans, and The Tree Is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists (1995) by Naomi Shihab Nye. In Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking at the Harlem Renaissance Through Poems (1996), Nikki Giovanni has collected poems that reflect the African American cultural experience in the early 20th century.

There is no doubt that young adults enjoy a wide range of poetry. In Light-Gathering Poems (2000), Liz Rosenberg has produced a collection of classic and contemporary poems from throughout the world, including translations of poems from poets such as Issa, Rilke, and Rumi. David Kherdian goes back to the 1960s and the Beat poets in San Francisco in his Beat Voices: An Anthology of Beat Poetry (1995). Other collections to consider are June Cotner’s collection Teen Sunshine Reflections: Words for the Heart and Soul (2002), Naomi Shihab Nye’s What Have You Lost? (1999), Michael Stipe’s The Haiku Year (1998), and Zoe Anglesey’s Listen Up! Spoken Word Poetry (1999).

Collections of a single poet

While Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and even Dr. Seuss remain favorites with some adolescents, there are a number of poets who write especially for young adults. In addition to his novels in various genres, Paul Fleischman has written several books of poetry that are meant to be read aloud including his I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices (1989), Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices (1988), and Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices (2000). From the pen of Naomi Shihab Nye comes 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (2002), a collection of her poems about the Middle East and Arab Americans, especially their feelings since September 11, 2001. Selecting works from her adult poems and adding new ones, Pat Mora has produced a collection of free verse poems in My Own True Name (2000), while in Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People (2002), Carole Boston Weatherford combines poetry and history to chronicle African American history and culture. A perennial favorite is poet Arnold Adoff. In addition to compiling collections’ of the works of other poets, he has written a number of volumes of original work including Slow Dance: Heart Break Blues (1995), The Basket Counts (2000), and Sports Pages (1986). Expanding Your Knowledge with the Internet 9–1 provides Internet sites on individual poets as well as young adult poetry in general.

A story in poems

A number of authors have written poetic young adult novels by using a series of poems to tell a complete story. In You Remind Me of You: A Poetry Memoir (2002), Eireann Corrigan, a high school student, reflects on her fight against an eating disorder. Although each poem can stand alone, the series of poems present a picture of the conflicting emotions and pressures that teens feel. Another new writer who looks at teenage problems through poetry is Sonya Sones. Her Stop Pretending (1999) tells the story of a teenager who is trying to cope with her sister’s mental breakdown.

A number of other authors have written stories in poems. In both the Newbery Medal-winning Out of the Dust (1997) and Witness (2001), Karen Hesse uses free verse to tell very complex tales. True Believer (2001) and Make Lemonade (1993), Virginia Euwer Wolff’s stories of LaVaughn and her struggle to escape from the housing projects, are also written as free verse poems. Popular author Mel Glenn offers several stories in poetry, including his mysteries Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? A Mystery in Poems (1996) and Foreign Exchange: A Mystery in Poems (1999), as well as Split Image: A Story in Poems (2000). Other novels in verse include Robert Cormier’s Frenchtown Summer (1999), Cynthia Rylant’s Soda Jerk (1990), and Jacqueline Woodson’s Locomotion (2003).

Expanding Your Knowledge with the Internet 9–1

You can use a number of Internet sites to expand your knowledge of poetry. Links to the samples listed below and many additional sites are found on this book’s Companion Website at www.prenhall.com/bucher.

Academy of American Poets

www.poets.org/

Favorite Poem Project

www.favoritepoem.org/

Poetry a Day for American High Schools

www.loc.gov/poetry/180/