Gr 6-10 This extraordinary collection is alive with pathos, sensitivity, humor, beauty, controversy, and insight. The more than 100 poems are by prize-winning authors and relative newcomers. Familiar classics and contemporary selections sing out with profound ideas and simple truths. To define "who I am," there are selections about racial and ethnic identity; about ordinary and lofty ideas; about love, friendship, and family connections. They exhibit compassion, confusion, and anger. The poems are at once personal and universal, each told in a voice that speaks candidly to the target audience. The accompanying CD includes readings by many of the poets, and some of them describe the inspiration for their work, creating an intriguing perspective and connection to the piece. Blank pages at the end of the book invite readers to compose selections of their own. The variety of poems could easily hook youngsters on the genre as a comforting, accessible art form. This special book will enrich poetry sections. Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ

From baseball to first kisses to family, friends, community, love, and anger, the subjects in the 108 poems that make up this lively anthology will appeal to young people. The editors mix classic and contemporary selections, from Langston Hughes' "I Loved My Friend" and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" to Sherman Alexie's "Indian Education" and Julia Alvarez's "How I Learned to Sweep," and the spacious, inviting design will encourage teens to dip in, browse, and then linger. Another draw is the accompanying audio CD, on which many poets read their own work. Kids will recognize the familiar scenes in many poems, such as the torture of bra shopping for the first time and the fun of browsing in a used book store. Just as compelling are the selections by Shakespeare, Rilke, Dickinson, Whitman, and other classic poets. This makes a strong companion to poetry collections for youth compiled by Ruth Gordon, Paul Janeczko, and Naomi Shihab Nye.

This addition to the Poetry Speaks series aims at middle-grade readers with more than 100 strikingly diverse poems by writers including Poe, Frost, Nikki Giovanni, and Sandra Cisneros. The works are slotted together in mindful thematic order, beside occasional spot art. In Rosellen Brown's untitled poem, she reflects, “Nothing. They are for nothing, friends,/ I think. All they do in the end—they <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">touch you. They fill you like music.” Just opposite, is Langston Hughes's “I Loved My Friend”: “I loved my friend./ He went away from me./ There's nothing more to say./ The poem ends,/ Soft as it began—I loved my friend.” Pairing a contemporary poem like Toi Derricotte's “Fears of the Eighth Grade” alongside Keats's “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be,” results in a refreshing lack of literary hierarchy that enables disparate works to build and reflect upon one another. An accompanying CD features recordings of 44 of the poems, and blank lined pages at the end allow readers to integrate their voices into the chorus. A sound and rewarding introduction to the joys of poetry. Ages 9–12. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

Attempting to alleviate teensÆ fear and loathing of poetry, Poetry Speaks Who I Am presents 108 motley selections by both contemporary and anthologized poets. With such an assortment, readers will connect with at least one text and discover that poetry can excite and inspirit, and allow them to see their world in a new way. This compilation hopes to move readers, but also to inspire and awaken their creativity; lined pages at the back of the book await the thoughts of its burgeoning poets. As a bonus, the collection is accompanied by a CD with recordings of forty-seven of the poems, often read by their respective authors. This collection is impressive. Newer poets appear next to writers like William Shakespeare and W.B.Yeats, and this organization, combined with the diverse styles and schemes, further demystifies the genre, confirming that verse does not have to be traditional nor formal to be considered poetry; it simply has to make the reader feel something. With the absence of author introductions on the accompanying CD, the poems meld into a myriad of voices, emphasizing poetryÆs fluid nature. Each poem is grounded in a familiar setting, such as the kitchen, the classroom, the bedroom, the school hallway, or the back yard, and invokes everyday conflicts and desires of adolescence. The poems summon love and love lost, first kisses, childhood memories, teen embarrassments, identity crises, family influences, plights of loneliness, and celebrations of acceptance. Aptly titled, this collection speaks to the reader while simultaneously speaking of the reader.ùCourtney Huse Wika.