February is the month of my birth and so is one of my favorite months of the year. I love feeling special (classic Enneagram 4 here, yes), and February makes me feel special. I’m glad I can finally admit it. Ha! Another reason to like February this year is that I have done a fair … [Read more…]
Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes is a short novel-in-verse that is written entirely in tanka poems. These poems consist of five lines each, and Grimes follows the format of a 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllable-count for the lines of her tanka poems (English syllable count may vary as this is a Japanese poetic form). … [Read more…]
To Stay Alive: Mary Ann Graves and the Tragic Journey of the Donner Party by Skila Brown was shortlisted for the poetry category of the 2016 Cybils. It is a novel-in-verse that chronicles the experiences of one of the actual members of the Donner party, the group of settlers who left their Midwestern homes for California … [Read more…]
What a joy it has been this year to be a second-round judge for the 2016 Cybils! And so it is with great honor that I share my thoughts on this year’s poetry winner, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan. Do you like novels-in-verse? I confess that after several years of … [Read more…]
I’ve changed my mind about novels-in-verse; I always used to begin my reviews of them with a disclaimer that I don’t really like them. Now I know that I do. I mean, I LOVE poetry, and I love a good story, so what’s not to love in a mashup of the two? However, Kwame Alexander’s … [Read more…]
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox
Join other followers
