An Expanse of Blue

 

Rating: 5 out of 5 |  for a big "mirror, window and sliding glass door" -- in verse -- for ʻopio kanaka.

My Thoughts:

Finally, a novel in verse, similar to The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, and When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez but for Pacifica, and specifically Hawaiian teens. The characters are in the diaspora (Western Washington), but they are in a Hawaiian community. Aouli lashes out at her father, at her sister, at her mother, at the church. There is so much going on and no one really sees her. . .until Nalu.

• The good: This novel in verse uses poetic elements like white space and concrete poetry strategies to help the reader feel her frustration and the breaking of the pieces of her. This is perfect for reluctant female readers as Nalu is dreamy and Aunty Ehu is someone we all have in our family.

• The tolerable, but unfortunate: While the story is contemporary, the cover art feels disconnected; the character appears older than Aouli and Kaia, and the styling, from the earrings to the perfectly neat tita bun--doesn't quite capture the raw, youthful energy of the vere.

• The relatable: I think the characters and situations will be very relatable to local teens. It is both global and ʻāina grounded. That is the highest praise I can give.

From the Publisher:

Aouli Elizabeth Smith is adrift: unheard at home and an unbeliever at church, fighting her sister and losing her best friend. Overflowing with feeling, she pours her secrets and herself into her song journal when the world threatens to sweep her away. The one place she feels tied down to earth is at her Aunty Ehu’s house. Those joyous Saturdays with her extended Native Hawaiian community living in Western Washington are precious to her. Under the maple trees, the fragments of her life fit together, if only for an afternoon.
Then, an unspeakable truth about her father shatters this one perfect corner of her life.
As Aouli’s world constricts around what others wish she could be, language fails her. But when a new boy, Nalu, turns up with eyes that seem to pierce right into her soul, maybe it’s love that can give her the words to set herself free.

Publication Information:

• Author: Kauakanilehua Mahoe Adams
• Publisher: Heartdrum
• Publication date: May 19, 2026
• Print length: 464 pages
• Reading age: 13 years and up

Mahalo to Heartdrum books, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Maybe the Body: Poems

 

Rating: 4 out of 5|Highly recommended as a mentor text for student writing.

My Thoughts:

In honor of Poetry Month, I dove into the debut collection by Filipina poet Asa Drake.

This is a book meant to be read --and re-read--repeatedly. There are lines that stopped me in my tracks, and others so beautifully complex they felt ʻono, "delicious," in their ambiguity, offering a potential for meaning that perhaps even the poet didn't intend. 

As an English teacher, I especially lived how the titles are integral to the poems themselves.  It satisfies my professional pet peeve of students labeling their work "Untitled." For instance, the poem titled:

 "APPARENTLY, MONARCHS WHO EMERGE FROM MY YARD EACH WINTER"         forgo migration./ Like homeland is/ wherever has kept you.

Homeland is 

wherever has kept you. . .

I want to write that poem. I want to chew on that image and suck it out like bone marrow. 

The collection's structure is fluid, transitioning seamlessly from traditional verse to prose poems.  The use of white space is its own journey--moving from standard left justification to hanging indents and clusters of words/images/lines that seem to play across the page. 

Drake writes about colliding countries, histories, and lineages.  While it touches on love, this is not a book of "love poems" in the traditional sense; it is political, complex, and grounded in the reality of the diaspora. As Drake notes, 

It's so hard to write about love without writing about the country we live in.

These poems, much like the country itself, refuse to be easily labeled.

In the classroom:

• Line Jar: Have students pull specific lines from the book to use as "poetry starters" or concluding images for their own drafts.
• Found Poetry: Use Drake's vivid imagery to create found poems.
• Form Study: Analyze "PANTOUM FOR LOLO AHAS" Discuss how Drake adheres to or breaks the traditional pantoum structure, then have students compose their own. 

From the Publisher:

In her stunning debut poetry collection, Maybe the Body, Asa Drake witnesses firsthand the conflicts between art and patriotism, labor and longing. She reaches for the lush landscapes—real and recounted—of the Philippines and the American South as she traces the lineage of a body shaped by economic, ecological, and political dissonance. As one poem reminds us, "it's so hard to write about love without writing about the country we live in." These thirty-eight poems, threaded together with a six-part braided sequence, bind a multigenerational conversation between grandmothers, mothers, and aunts through a range of forms, from pantoums to prose poems. With its vivid imagery and an unforgettable lyrical perspective, Maybe the Body reconsiders the natural transactions of work, intimacy, and the poem itself.

Publication Information:

• Author: Asa Drake
• Publisher: Tin House
• Publication date: February 24, 2026
• Print length: 96 pages

 

April 2026 TBR list

 

I receive 5 to 10 book recommendation emails from publishers every week. That might not sound like much, but when left unread, they snowball into the thousands. While I’m always curious about what’s hitting the market, I remain committed to reading exclusively Indigenous authors, authors of color, and marginalized voices (LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, and disabled creators).
The reality is that major publishers still lean heavily toward white authors—perhaps because the YA market feels "locked" into specific narratives, or because authors of color aren't being given the same opportunities to reach the shelf.
If that’s the case, then it is my kuleana (responsibility) to highlight the authors you should be reading. I usually share my "Starting 6" on Instagram and Threads, but I’m bringing them here to dive a little deeper.
Since April is National Poetry Month, this month’s list features six incredible novels-in-verse by non-white authors. Good luck finding a curated list like this anywhere else—I’ve tried the Google rabbit hole and came up empty, so I decided to build it myself.

The Starting 6

Note: Descriptions are adapted from publisher and critical reviews to give you an accurate flavor of each title before I dive into my own reading.

• King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin

An “artful and introspective” (BCCB, starred review) novel in verse “celebration of neurodiversity wrapped in bars so tight they could stop traffic” (Shelf Awareness) about a Black teen with ADHD who finds self-expression and first love during one epic summer school season

•  When We Ride by Rex Ogle

Ogle delivers a propulsive narrative exploring the limits of loyalty and friendship.   It’s a raw look at how bonds are tested by the harsh realities of drugs and violence.

• (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi 

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut—a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore—about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for.

• An Expanse of Blue by Kauakanilehua Mahoe Adams

Fans of The Poet X will fall for this powerful, romantic debut novel-in-verse about a Native Hawaiian girl's fight to find belonging in a fracturing family, sharing a message of love with resounding emotional truth.

• The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez by Jasminne  Paulino

“This story is about a boy who is certain of his own magic in the midst of the doubtful adults around him. A kid who knows not even the sky, but the stars are the limit. Which makes Paulino’s debut…extraordinary.” —Jason Reynolds, author of National Book Award finalist Look Both Ways and Newbery Honor Book Long Way Down

• The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez

“A powerful love letter to finding and using your voice, this story will resonate deeply with those who struggle to feel seen and nurtured, particularly young women of color… A compelling drama with a firecracker protagonist that stuns with its strikingly beautiful writing.” —Kirkus, starred review

 

The Leaving Room

 

Rating: 4 for speculative poetry in verse and trusted author

My Thoughts:

This novel starts as a wondering by the author, or perhaps a hope of the author that when young people, children die, there is an in between place that helps them to transition. The leaving room is such a place. This leaving room is hosted by a Keeper, Gospel. Gospel collects memories in jars and offers the young souls a treat and a hot drink. As a Keeper, the collecting of memories makes her question what are her memories versus what are others' memories. And then a portal opens up and she meets Melodee, another Keeper. In a span of four minutes, their two worlds shift, things fall a part, and rules are broken. This speculative novel is typical for Amber McBride. Readers need to pay attention, most likely re read and try to fall into the world without question. 

From the Publisher:

For fans of You've Reached Sam and If I Stay, a hauntingly beautiful, ultimately hopeful novel-in-verse about a girl in between life and death, by National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.

Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room—a place all young people must phase through when they die. The young are never ready to leave; they need a moment to remember and a Keeper to help their wispy souls along.

When a random door opens and a Keeper named Melodee arrives, their souls become entangled. Gospel's seriousness melts and Melodee’s fear of connection fades, but still—are Keepers allowed to fall in love? Now they must find a way out of the Leaving Room and be unafraid of their love. In a novel that takes place over four minutes, National Book Award finalist Amber McBride explores connection, memory, and hope in ways that are unforgettable and poignant.

Publication Information:

Author: Amber McBride
Publisher: Feiwel Friends (October 14, 2025)

Print length: 224 pages

Reading age: 12-18

Clap When You Land

 

Rating: 5 for the ability to use this in the English classroom and for a solid novel in verse

My Thoughts:

Elizabeth Acevedo, author of The Poet X, and With the Fire on High is a distinctive voice in the YA market. In this novel in two voices with distinct styles of poetry for the two main characters,  Acevedo takes the real plane crash of American Airlines flight 587 that went down in November of 2021and creates a novel of grief and secrets with two daughters of one of the victims.  Camino, in the Dominican Republic, and Yahira, in New York City are only children who are used to Papi being in New York during the school year and in the Dominican Republic during the summer. Both girls have very special relationships with their fathers, but until their father dies, they do not know about each other. 

If using this in the classroom, Harper Collins has a teacher's guide that will guide discussion, including if teachers want to use this and The Poet X  as a paired reading.

As a mentor text, students can analyze craft on voice, alternate perspectives, and tone. (high school common core standards RC.3 and RC.13. In addition Teaching Books also has some ideas for using this book in the classroom. 

From the Publisher:

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. 

Publication Information:

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Publisher: Quill Tree Books (May 5, 2020)

Book length: 432 pages

Grade level: 9-12

Home (Picture Book)

 

Stars: 4 This picture book is both beautiful, buyable and easily used in the middle school classroom as a mentor text.

My Thoughts: 

This is an extended metaphor poem by one of my favorite YA authors, Matt De La Peña, on the different manifestations of home. Of course it is not a place. Of course it includes vital people and times and memories. However, what I also loved is that it also includes school and a teacher at the door of a classroom as home. I have met many students over my years who feel like school is their safe place and their home. I continue to remind my teacher candidates that this is a fact, not something made up to explain why it is so important to create a safe, loving space for learning and healing within the classroom, even in secondary. Even in college.  The author and illustrator do a superb job of bringing that home for readers.

In the middle school classroom, use this as a mentor text for an extended metaphor writing assignment. Better yet, use this as a skills lesson for essays to show how to continue to roll out an argument.

From the Publishers:

Home is a tired lullaby
and a late-night traffic that mumbles in
through a crack in your curtains.

Home is the faint trumpet of a distant barge
as your grandfather casts his line
from the edge of his houseboat.

With lyrical text and expressive artwork, Matt de la Peña and Loren Long celebrate the beauty and love found in every home, no matter its size. They show how a home is more than just a place . . . People can be a kind of home—a family and a community that cares for one another. And the natural world is another kind of home, a refuge we share with every living thing on Earth.

This deeply moving ode to the universal pull of home, whatever its form, is destined to become a new classic that will be cherished by readers of every age.

Publication Information:

Author: Matt De La Peña

Illustrator: Loren Long

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (March 11, 2025)

Hardcover: 48 pages

ʻĀina Hānau: Birthland

 

My Thoughts:

This second collection of poetry by ʻōiwi poet Brandy Nālani McDougall takes a more academic and political stance (kū) on Hawaiʻi poetry by Hawaiian poets. In the vein of Haunani Kay Trask, this poetry is a message to and about lāhui builders and scholars. But what I find most poignant are her more personal poems, especially "The Map," for Clifford and "This Island on Which I Love You" for her husband Chamorro poet Craig Santos Perez.  I understand that political poems move us forward, but the personal poems move my gut. 

From the Publisher:

‘Āina Hānau / Birth Land is a powerful collection of new poems by Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) poet Brandy Nālani McDougall. ‘Āina hānau—or the land of one’s birth—signifies identity through intimate and familial connections to place and creates a profound bond between the people in a community. McDougall’s poems flow seamlessly between ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i and English, forming rhythms and patterns that impress on the reader a deep understanding of the land. Tracing flows from the mountains to the ocean, from the sky to the earth, and from ancestor to mother to child, these poems are rooted in the rich ancestral and contemporary literature of Hawaiʻi —moʻolelo, moʻokūʻauhau, and mele —honoring Hawaiian ʻāina, culture, language, histories, aesthetics, and futures.

The poems in Āina Hānau / Birth Land cycle through sacred and personal narratives while exposing and fighting ongoing American imperialism, settler colonialism, militarism, and social and environmental injustice to protect the ʻāina and its people. The ongoing environmental crisis in Hawaiʻi, inextricably linked to colonialism and tourism, is captured with stark intensity as McDougall writes, Violence is what we settle for / because we’ve been led to believe / green paper can feed us / more than green land. The experiences of birth, motherhood, miscarriage, and the power of Native Hawaiian traditions and self-advocacy in an often dismissive medical system is powerfully narrated by the speaker of the titular poem, written for McDougall’s daughters.

‘Āina Hānau reflects on what it means to be from and belong to an ʻāina hānau, as well as what it means to be an ‘āina hānau, as all mothers serve as the first birth lands for their children.

Publication Information:

Author: Brandy Nālani McDougall

Publisher: University of Arizona Press (June 13, 2023)

Dark Testament: Blackout Poems

 

My Thoughts:

The metaphor of this cover is everything. We see the obvious blackout, but also the wall or even bars with the black male figure behind those bars as dark testament pushes out of the large middle white space. Even the cover is poetry. 

The clever, clever use of George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo, an experimental novel that centers on the grief Abraham Lincoln undergoes after the death of his eleven-year-old son, Willie, is the raw material for poet Crystal Simone Smith's celebration of black lives in the midst of mourning and grief. The timeliness of these poems seem so current, and the idea of gathering this kind of conscientization and despair through a novel featuring Lincoln as well as a cast of characters "living and dead, historical and invented" is really brilliant and cathartic. 

Smith in her introduction lays out a charge for us as readers, 

As the poet, I task you the reader with lighting a conscience flame in honor of those killed by violence and carrying that torch into a more just future. A better world is within our grasp.

The titles of Smith's poetry pay homage to individual victims. Many names are well known in the Black Lives Matter movement: Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd.  But even more names were unknown to me until now. The majority of the poems carry victim names. Others connect to the movement, like "No Justice, No Peace" or "Justified Homicide." 

I found myself forgetting that these were blackout poems. They really felt like a conversation and collaboration between Saunders and Smith.  The conversation between the two authors at the end of this was especially meaningful to me as an English teacher. The writing process conversations with the authors is a gem that needs to be in our writing workshops as "advice from the trenches." 

George [Saunders]: For me, writing is a process of trying to revise the falseness and manipulation out of the prose, and, by association, out of myself. 

From the Publisher:

In this extraordinary collection, the award-winning poet Crystal Simone Smith gives voice to the mournful dead, their lives unjustly lost to violence, and to the grieving chorus of protestors in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, in search of resilience and hope.

With poems found within the text of George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo, Crystal Simone Smith embarks on an uncompromising exploration of collective mourning and crafts a masterwork that resonates far beyond the page. These poems are visually stark, a gathering of gripping verses that unmasks a dialogue of tragic truths―the stories of lives taken unjustly and too soon.

Bold and deeply affecting, Dark Testament is a remarkable reckoning with our present moment, a call to action, and a plea for a more just future.

Along with the poems, Dark Testament includes a stirring introduction by the author that speaks to the content of the poetry, a Q&A with George Saunders, and a full-color photo-insert that commemorates victims of unlawful killings with photographs of memorials that have been created in their honor. 

Publication information:

Author: Crystal Simone Smith

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (January 3, 2023)

 

Girls That Never Die: Poems

From the Publisher:

In Girls That Never Die, award-winning poet Safia Elhillo reinvents the epic to explore Muslim girlhood and shame, the dangers of being a woman, and the myriad violences enacted and imagined against women’s bodies. Drawing from her own life and family histories, as well as cultural myths and news stories about honor killings and genital mutilation, she interlaces the everyday traumas of growing up a girl under patriarchy with magical realist imaginings of rebellion, autonomy, and power. 

Elhillo writes a new world: women escape their stonings by birds that carry the rocks away; slain girls grow into two, like the hydra of lore, sprouting too numerous to ever be eradicated; circles of women are deemed holy, protected. Ultimately, Girls That Never Die is about wrestling ourselves from the threats of violence that constrain our lives, and instead looking to freedom and questioning: 

[what if i will not die] 

[what will govern me then]

My Thoughts:

Safia Elhillo, author of the beautiful YA novel in verse Home is Not a Country, continues to find catharsis amidst personal and generational trauma in her poetry. To be a woman is to be split open and bleeding. To be a Muslim woman is to be split open and bleeding. As women, we are ruptured and broken. But the beauty of these poems is that as women, we are also whole and fierce and powerful beyond measure. 

In this year where women are losing power over their own bodies (again) Girls that Never Die by Elhillo is a feminist call to arms as females to see each other and support each other:

& when i live alone

& that man followed me

one night home from the six train

up lexington        & into the hallway

tried for hours to break open my front door

you took turns from all your cities   & stayed

overnight with me on the phone    for three days

snoring & murmuring in your sleep

(excerpt from "Ode to My Homegirls")

Publication Information:

Author: Safia Elhillo

Publisher: One World

Publication date: July 12, 2022

Ain't Burned All the Bright

 

My Thoughts:

This is a long disjointed poem, but it is not a novel in verse. It is just one long story where the art and the placement of words on the page are just as important as the pages with no words. 

"In through the nose. . .out through the mouth" That is how this book needs to be read, in through the nose, out through the mouth. The way certain lines and words repeat is so effective in the rhythm of this that as a reader it's hard to not also be an orator. It's difficult to not end up reading this out loud. Even when I wanted to stop reading out loud, I couldn't. 

This is an immersive experience of one black family's experience during this 2020 pandemic from the eyes of one of the kids/teens. The inside jacket calls this a heartbreaking-heartmaking manifesto and perhaps the double page spread image that most exemplifies that is the one with a male standing on the bottom corner of the left page facing the upper corner of the right page with his right hand up in a fist and a long shadow in front of him. Perhaps because I just read the memoir Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice about the Olympic protest on the medal platform by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, this image with the words is so powerful:

ain't nothin but a fist with a face that looks like mine

I'm definitely giving this book away. I just have to figure out who will be able to find the student that needs this book. This book is profound. The art and words remind me of the picture book illustration styling of Harlem by Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers. It is a heavy book and a heavy subject. This is definitely a book you need to buy and own and come back to.

From the Publisher:

Jason Reynolds and his best bud, Jason Griffin had a mind-meld. And they decided to tackle it, in one fell swoop, in about ten sentences, and 300 pages of art, this piece, this contemplation-manifesto-fierce-vulnerable-gorgeous-terrifying-WhatIsWrongWithHumans-hope-filled-hopeful-searing-Eye-Poppingly-Illustrated-tender-heartbreaking-how-The-HECK-did-They-Come-UP-with-This project about oxygen. And all of the symbolism attached to that word, especially NOW.

And so for anyone who didn’t really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you’ll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is. 

Author: Jason Reynolds

Illustrator: Jason Griffin

Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Diouhy Books

Publication date: January 11, 2022

Unraveling: Poems

 

Publication date: March 8, 2022

My Thoughts:

I am not a good critic for poetry, as the poems that I like are ones that I have a visceral reaction to, but that reaction comes from different things. It just depends. In other words, I like who I like, but I cannot explain why I trust their poetic voice. What grabs me, though, is when I hear poets read their own pieces. I feel like poets reading their own pieces is part of the visceral package. 

With that in mind, I picked up this book because Brandon Leake is the Season 15 winner of America's Got Talent. I know this because the publishers put that down on the cover. I have never seen a whole season of America's Got Talent, but I have seen enough clips to know that a spoken word poet is not the typical act that gets the judges excited, so I needed to request this book.

His poetry is fine, but it sits on the page like the plastic food outside of the Japanese restaurants. It looks real enough, meaning from all outward appearances, they are recognizable as poems. However, I am missing his voice in my head. I don't know how he would read it, and since I am reading this pre-publication, Amazon does not allow me to listen to a snippet. I am guessing, especially since he is a AGT winner, that it is in the delivery, the way he enunciates the words, inserts breath and life into lines, perhaps moves his hands like Amanda Gorman does as if punctuating and pushing essence into the poems, that this is where the corpse of words turns into living material. 

From "Living" -

I'm not searching for a new beginning/I'm somewhere in the middle/Not quite hopelessly searching/Yet not quite woefully unearthing/All of these dead parts of me (p.8)

I guess, without having ever heard him read his own work, I too am somewhere in the middle. . .

From the Publisher:

From famous spoken word poet, artistic educator, and founder/CEO of “Called to Move” Brandon Leake comes his debut poetry collection Unraveling. In an era of self love, the ability to love oneself is only as effective as the ability to know oneself. Throughout his collection, Leake asks readers to look at something beautiful, yet still see its flaws. On the flip side, he encourages readers to look at something evil, and yet still see the beauty it holds.

Universally relatable, surprisingly educational, and all around powerful, Unraveling is a collection of poetry inspiring us to slow down, breathe, and read between the lines.

 

Vinyl Moon

 

My Thoughts:

Snaps to black girl magic in this multi genre book about Angel, a teen sent to Brooklyn after an incident with her abusive boyfriend. In New York, she lives with a loving, hard working uncle. At her new school, she finds a teacher who guides her to reconnect with herself and reimagine her future through the books in her room as well as through the other girls in Ms. Gʻs H.E.R. advisory (Her Excellence is Resilience & Honoring Everyones Roots). The vignettes and poems are about Angel, her dreams, her awakening, her friends, her music. But it is also a song for Brooklyn in the same way that House on Mango Street is a song about Chicago. 

For English teachers, this is a mentor text for your writers, as well as a book list of what should be in the literary American canon. If as high school English teachers, we have not offered these books to our students, are we preparing them?: 

• James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time, Notes of a Native Son
• Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, Sula
• Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Ms. Browne, through Angel, brings these writers back into the consciousness of new readers in a format that will make them curious and perhaps pick it up on their own. As an educator and a former AP teacher, I appreciate that. I remember giving my public school students The Bluest Eye for summer reading, then spending the whole summer wondering if I was going to get called in by the principal or an irate parent. I had my intention and justification papers ready, and although I never got questioned, I knew it was a risk. I also enjoyed the little rant Angel has with the librarian about what is classic and should be read and what is not valued. Using this book as a pep talk for English teachers to pay attention to this kind of student who uses reading as a window, a mirror, a sliding glass door, as well as a healing stone is an important reminder as we start to think again about creating our own curriculum and our own resources for these times of upheaval. 

Bring Vinyl Moon into the classroom as a mentor text for writing workshop. Bring it in as a stepping stone for other books. Pair it with House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros or the Oceania vignettes of Girl in the Moon Circle by Sia Figiel. Let black and brown girl magic from the diaspora vibrate through your classroom. Wouldn't that be fabulous? I am already excited to create curriculum.

Finally, when authors bother to write letters in the beginning of the book, I like to read it. I like to hear others talk about their intentionality and their "why," so I also want to honor that.

This is a story about finding your way. This is one of so many of our stories. I hope it brings you closer to sharing your voice. I hope it lights a candle in the cavern where you hide yourself. I hope it feels safe to read these voices and know they are thinking about you being and breathing. Wherever you are.  --Mahogany L. Browne

From the. Publisher:

When Darius told Angel he loved her, she believed him. But five weeks after the incident, Angel finds herself in Brooklyn, far from her family, from him, and from the California life she has known.
 
Angel feels out of sync with her new neighborhood. At school, she can’t shake the feeling everyone knows what happened—and that it was her fault. The only place that makes sense is Ms. G’s class. There, Angel’s classmates share their own stories of pain, joy, and fortitude. And as Angel becomes immersed in her revolutionary literature course, the words from Black writers like Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Zora NEale Hurston speak to her and begin to heal the wounds of her past.

This stunning novel weaves together prose, poems, and vignettes to tell the story of Angel, a young woman whose past was shaped by domestic violence but whose love of language and music and the gift of community grant her the chance to find herself again.

 

Laughing Out Loud, I Fly

 

Juan Felipe Herrera is the US poet laureate, but I have not been keeping up with live poets as much as I should, so I did not really know that. However, he played a prominent role in the November 2020 NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English) conference so I got to hear him at this virtual affair. What struck me about him was that he is artsy and warm and whimsical, which I think makes for a great poet who can uplift people and bring hope in dark spaces. 

Listening to Herrera on Zoom was like being in his studio and listening to a favorite teacher. At one point in the keynote he brought out large pieces of newsprint and said I am going to write you a poem and I could have sworn that I was the only person in the room and he was speaking directly to me.

His book of poems in Spanish and English are like that. They are intimate and whimsical. The rhythm of his words dances. The food imagery is both playful and nostalgic. Even if I do not have similar food memories, he makes me remember a time and feel the joy that comes from the simplicity of that time and that food. 

What I most love about these poems are the titles. I know he means them to bring laughter, I found myself smiling through tears. I am not sure why, but they were not sad tears.

Some of my favorite titles:

I own many socks, some with wings

Nothing is missing, nothing, except the pineapple tamales

If I was Picasso, I would paint a crab

I was born with a tiny parakeet of hope

These are poems to experience. These are not poems to dissect like frogs. These are poems to read out loud to yourself at the park and let the wind carry them up into the sky. 

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

 

Nikki Grimes is on fire! Not only does this beautiful book allow these Harlem Renaissance female poets to step forward in their own power, using their own voices, but when Grimes uses the Golden Shovel poetry form originated by Terrance Hayes, these new poems are used as praise songs for the originals. 

This is the first time I have seen this form (Golden Shovel) but what a wonderful way to create voice and word play. This is also a fabulous way to take analysis out of the realm of academic "mansplaining" and into the realm of possibility and deep reverberations.  Read this book, coming out in January 2021, to see what Grimes can do with this form. 

The "rules" of Golden Shovel: 

• grab a striking line from a poem, or for short poems, take it in its entirety. Bold that striking line or poem.
• Arrange that striking line or poem in a line, word by word, in the right margin
• You then create. your new poem, keeping the borrowed line or poem as the last words of each line

The result is a lovely call and response from the ancestors to Ms. Grimes and back again. What a fabulous homage to these, until now, forgotten names that sit equal to Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Paul Laurence Dunbar.