Language and Literature

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nelson, Marilyn. 2001. Carver: A Life in Poems. Asheville, N.C. Front Street. ISBN 1-886910-53-7 SUMMARY: This 59 poem novel depicts George Washington Carver’s life from different point of views. In this novel, Carver’s life begins from an infant and continues all through his death. His challenges of being born into a slave family, coupled with his intense desire to learn, guide the book as Carver manages to use his intelligence, determination, and ingenuity to follow his dreams. Even while facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Carver managed to inspire others and lived a life of learning and aiding others. These poems vividly portray Carver through some of his accomplishments and take the reader through a journey of his life. ANALYSIS: This novel is replete with imagery that helps the reader visualize what is happening. In “Watkins Laundry and Apothecary: Mariah Watkins, Neosho, Missouri,” the speaker states, “He was sweet with the neighbor children. / Taught the...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hemphill, S., Nielsen, S., Friedman, M., Ciulla, C., & Caruso, B. (2011). Wicked girls a novel of the Salem witch trials . Solon, OH: Playaway Digital Audio. ISBN:9780061853296 SUMMARY: A fictionalized account, told in verse, of the Salem witch trials, told from the perspective of three young women living in Salem in 1692: Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam, Jr. Ann Putnam Jr. is the queen bee. When her father suggests a spate of illnesses in the village is the result of witchcraft, she puts in motion a chain of events that will change Salem forever. Mercy Lewis is the beautiful servant in Ann's house who inspires adulation in some and envy in others. With her troubled past, she seizes her only chance at safety. Margaret Walcott, Ann's cousin, is desperately in love. She is torn between staying loyal to her friends and pursuing a life with her betrothed. ANALYSIS: Hemphill plumbs the psychological underpinnings of the Salem witch trials in blank...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bulion, Leslie. 2015. Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse. Ill. by Mike Lowery. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56145-737-3 SUMMARY: This book highlights the numerous anatomical body parts that readers know about, but may not know specifically what they do. In this collection, each body part is presented with a riddle as a poem and a scientific text box where readers can see factual information related to the specific body part. Different body parts, such as teeth, stomach, tongue, and alveoli are given a page each on the novel, and readers get to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ as the body parts speak to us, telling us what they do. ANALYSIS: USE: Figurative language is present throughout the poem. In the poem “The River of Life,” the speaker states, “Three boats sail / Along the river of life- / A sticky situation. / A breath of wind / Where rivulets bend. / Hoist the red sails!” In this example, the river is really the plasma, which prov...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Latham, I., Waters, C., Qualls, S., & Alko, S. (2018). Can I touch your hair?: Poems of race, mistakes, and friendship . Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books. ISBN: 978-1-5124-0442-5 SUMMARY: Irene Latham, who is white, and Charles Waters, who is black, use this fictional setup to delve into different experiences of race in a relatable way, exploring such topics as hair, hobbies, and family dinners. ANALYSIS: Two classmates serving as stand-ins for poets Latham and Waters, reluctantly pair up on a poetry-writing project and reflect on their identities, relationships, and the role race plays in their lives, in more than 30 candid, thought-provoking poems. The students aren’t initially close (“She hardly says anything. Plus, she’s white,” thinks talkative Charles after being assigned to work with Irene), but that soon changes. The children’s passions and preoccupations are revealed in poems that explore topics in parallel such as new shoes, dinnertime, parental pu...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Holt, K. A. (2015). House arrest . San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN: 978-1-4521-5648-4 SUMMARY: Timothy is sentenced to house arrest after impulsively stealing a wallet and he is forced to keep a journal into which he pours all his thoughts, fears, and frustrations. ANALYSIS: Twelve-year-old Timothy has a probation officer, a court-appointed psychologist, and a yearlong sentence of house arrest. He also has a 9-month-old brother who breathes through a trach tube that frequently clogs. Heavy oxygen tanks and a suction machine are as loud as a jackhammer are their everyday equipment. Timothy’s crime: charging $1,445 on a stolen credit card for a month of baby Levi’s medicine, which his mother can’t afford, especially since his father left. The text shows illness, poverty, and hunger to be awful but barely acknowledges the role of, for example, weak health insurance, odd considering the nature of Timothy’s crime. The family has nursing help but not 24/7; the real ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grandits, J. (2007). Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems . New York: Clarion Books. ISBN:978-0-618-56860-4 SUMMARY: A 15-year-old girl named Jessie voices typical and not so typical teenage concerns in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Her musings about trying out new makeup and hairstyles, playing volleyball and cello, and dealing with her annoying younger brother are never boring or predictable. ANALYSIS: This crafty collection of poems is an expression of Jessie’s, a fifteen-year-old girl, words and thoughts about the world and people around her. The poems express her emotions of having a bad hair day, choosing friends, and even her super annoying brother. Her laughable, sarcastic take on high school life is shown through concrete poetry: words, ideas, and design that combine to make pictures and patterns. The illustrations and text really make each poem magical. Blue Lipstick is a great example of young adult poetry, the poems are told in the first person an...

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Florian, D. (2003). Autumnblings: Poems & paintings . New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0-06-009278-5 SUMMARY: A collection of poems that portray the essence of the season between summer and winter. This collection of poems and paintings welcomes fall with all the crisp energy of a joyful tumbling run. ANALYSIS:   the wordplay in this fall bouquet of poems seem slightly worn, while repeated and obvious puns often strain for effect. For example, "What to Do with Autumn Leaves" instructs readers to " leave them"; the same pun recurs in "Symmetree" ("The leaves all leave") and in "Awe-tumn" ("Autumn leaves/ Leave me in awe"). Similarly, the device of seeing the word "fall" displayed as if the letters were falling is less effective, as other poems recycle the same device. Florian's paintings, on the other hand, are fresh and childlike (e.g., the bite taken out of the apple shown for ...