In 1988, poet Grimes was part of an artists’ tour of China, performing, reading, traveling, and teaching.
Young, whose family comes from China, always sketches what he sees when he returns to visit. Grimes constructs a travelogue of small poems, each with an introduction accompanied by her tourist photos. Young’s lively and evocative black-and-white drawings, which are from the same time period—just before Tiananmen Square—are well-matched with the verse, some rhymed, some not. What could have been a mishmash turns out pretty well, as Grimes writes about her homesick longing for ice cream: “Sweet Deal,” her inability to consume scorpion sauté in “Dinner Guest” and wonderful sights, like the Great Wall and the Yellow Mountains.
While it might be hard to find an audience for this, it opens up possibilities for history, culture, and poetry classes for middle grades. (Poetry/travel. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8126-2707-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Cricket
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2004
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch.
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Basketball-playing twins find challenges to their relationship on and off the court as they cope with changes in their lives.
Josh Bell and his twin, Jordan, aka JB, are stars of their school basketball team. They are also successful students, since their educator mother will stand for nothing else. As the two middle schoolers move to a successful season, readers can see their differences despite the sibling connection. After all, Josh has dreadlocks and is quiet on court, and JB is bald and a trash talker. Their love of the sport comes from their father, who had also excelled in the game, though his championship was achieved overseas. Now, however, he does not have a job and seems to have health problems the parents do not fully divulge to the boys. The twins experience their first major rift when JB is attracted to a new girl in their school, and Josh finds himself without his brother. This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. Most interesting is the family dynamic that informs so much of the narrative, which always reveals, never tells. While Josh relates the story, readers get a full picture of major and minor players. The basketball action provides energy and rhythm for a moving story.
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch. (Verse fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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A fourth grader navigates the complicated world of immigration.
Betita Quintero loves the stories her father tells about the Aztlán (the titular land of cranes), how their people emigrated south but were fabled to return. Betita also loves to write. She considers words like “intonation,” “alchemy,” and “freedom” to be almost magic, using those and other words to create picture poems to paint her feelings, just like her fourth grade teacher, Ms. Martinez, taught her. But there are also words that are scary, like “cartel,” a word that holds the reason why her family had to emigrate from México to the United States. Even though Betita and her parents live in California, a “sanctuary state,” the seemingly constant raids and deportations are getting to be more frequent under the current (unnamed) administration. Thinking her family is safe because they have a “petition…to fly free,” Betita is devastated when her dad is taken away by ICE. Without their father, the lives of the Quinteros, already full of fear and uncertainty, are further derailed when they make the small mistake of missing a highway exit. Salazar’s verse novel presents contemporary issues such as “zero tolerance” policies, internalized racism, and mass deportations through Betita’s innocent and hopeful eyes, making the complex topics easy to understand through passionate, lyrical verses.
An emotional and powerful story with soaring poetry. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-34380-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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