Language and Literature

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hopkins, L. B., Hopkins, L. B., & Soentpiet, C. K. (2015). Amazing faces . Place of publication not identified: Lee & Low Books. ISBN: 9781600603341 SUMMARY: Whatever we feel whether happy or sad, excited or wishful, proud or lonely our faces mirror our emotions. In this contemporary yet timeless collection, sixteen evocative poems are brought to life in diverse and detailed faces that reveal the universal feelings we all share. Girls and boys, women and men invite us to experience their world, understand their lives, and find the connections that bring us together. ANALYSIS: Poet Lee Bennett Hopkins gathers these insightful works from an impressive array of authors, including Joseph Bruchac, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Nikki Grimes, Pat Mora, Carole Boston Weatherford, Janet S. Wong, Jane Yolen, and more. Glowing illustrations created by Chris Soentpiet infuse the verses with atmosphere and exquisite settings.  ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Shovan, L. (2016). The last fifth grade of Emerson Elementary . New York: Penguin Random House LLC. ISBN:978-0-553-52138-2 SUMMARY: A story told in verse from multiple perspectives of the graduating fifth grade class of Emerson Elementary. The kids join together to try to save their school from being torn down to make way for a supermarket. ANALYSIS:  In an ethnically diverse class featuring familiar rivalries and crushes, each student has an opportunity to be his or herself in journal entries destined for a time capsule, which are seen only by their teacher, Ms. Hill. In page-long entries, Shovan skillfully employ different poetic forms and styles—haikus, rhymes, acrostics, free verse, limericks, and more (all discussed in an endnote) to express the students’ personalities, though 18 distinct voices are a lot to track. Characters like Norah from Jerusalem; George, whose father recently left home; Shoshanna, dealing with a demanding friend (“When Hannah wins/ cl...

BIBLIOGRAPHY:    Woodson ,Jacqueline (NRT). Brown Girl Dreaming. Penguin Group USA, 2014.  ISBN:978-0-399-25251-8 PLOT SUMMARY:  Brown Girl Dreaming is a memoir of Jacqueline Woodson growing up in South Carolina and New York. In vivid poems, she shares what it is like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. The poem both touching and powerful, is accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world.  ANALYSIS:   Brown Girl Dreaming  is a poetic memoir about a childhood constantly in transition during the civil rights movement and segregation. Jacqueline “Jackie” Woodson was born on February 12, 1963, and that’s the day her story begins. Wide in its scope and ambitious in its reach,  Brown Girl Dreaming  is both personal and politically relevant. The one ent...