Poetry

Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience

Ada, Alma Flor. & Campoy, Isabel F. Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience. illus. by David Diaz. 96p. 2016. Tr. $8.99. ISBN 9781580895491.

With their collection of poems, Alma Flor Ada and Isabel F. Campoy give an inside look into the lives of the over 50 million Latinos and Latinas that make up the United States. To make their vignettes more authentic, and to avoid employing stereotypes, Alma and Campoy worked with countless Latinx writers, storytellers, and community members and leaders to include poems and prose that represented a wide range of backgrounds under the Latinx umbrella.

The poems are arranged in a chapter-like format, with a table of contents that differentiates each poem based on the name of its fictional subject and the specific culture they represent. For example, the book contains poems such as: "My Name Is Juanita," the story of a Mexican American school girl living in New York, "My Name is Felipe," the story of a Panamanian and Venezuelan boy living in Chicago, and "My Name is Lili," the poem of a Guatemalan and Chinese girl living in Los Angeles. Each poem also starts with a short introduction that gives the reader background information on Hispanic culture. Due to this I would recommend reading the collection in the manner in which it is presented, following the first poem in a sequential manner. 

The illustrations included in the book work to enhance the historical context/background information presented before each poem. All of the illustrations have been created using the same art style and black and white color palette. 

I would recommend this book for a reader within the middle or high school grade levels. With more experience and understanding of the world, I think these readers would better appreciate its message of self-expression and embracing your authentic self. While their stories are fictional, Alma and Campoy invite their readers to look inside themselves and think about what story they have to share with the world. 

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets

Alexander, Kwame., Colderley, Chris., & Wentworth, Marjory. Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets. illus. by Ekua Holmes. 56p. Tr. $10.99. ISBN 9780763680947. 

Out of Wonder is a love letter to the poets that contributed to the art across borders, time periods, and languages. Alexander, Colderley, and Wentworth have clearly studied the poets they are celebrating, for they masterfully pay tribute to them using their unique styles as inspiration for their poems. The three authors conclude their collection by giving the reader a short biography on each poet they wrote to in their book, giving the reader an insight into the source material for each poem. 

Using the table of contents at the beginning of the books, the reader can see that the twenty poems in the collection have been divided into three distinct parts: "Part I: Got Style?," "Part II: In Your Shoes," and "Part III: Thank You. While the poems could be perused in any order, it would be a more meaningful experience if the reader were to read the poems as a collection of their designated part, especially after reading each part's introduction. These short introductions give the reader a clue into the focus of the poems they are about to read.

Taking inspiration from a variety of poets, the poems in this collection exhibit many different uses of rhyming patters and schemes, imagery, figurative language, and stanza formation. To accompany the many poems are illustrations by Euka Holmes. Not only do these illustrations act as a visual enhancement to the poems created by Alexander, Coldreley, and Wentworth, but they continue to honor the muse of each poem.

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse

Singer, Marilyn. Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. illus. by Josee Masse. 32p. 2010. TR. $16.99. ISBN 9780525479017.

Marilyn Singer puts a new spin on the popular fairy tales many readers are familiar with in Mirror Mirror. Through her reversible verse poems, or reverso poems, the reader gets a second look into the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of classic fairy tale characters. How does Prince Charming really feel about saving Sleeping Beauty? What about when the Three Bears found Goldilocks in their house? Or the girl as she made her deal with Rumpelstilskin? Singer's poems are also beautifully accompanied by Josee Masse's whimsical illustrations that manage to reflect both side of each reverso poem. 

Singer does not use any rhyming schemes in her poems, which is understandable considering the fact her rhymes may not hold up when the poem is read in reverse. In terms of figurative language, Singer uses plenty of irony and personification, which is to be expected since she is pulling inspiration from fairy tales.

Based on these characteristics of the book, I believe the intended audience would be primary to intermediate elementary grade age readers. I worry that pre-k or emerging readers would struggle to follow the reverse reading of each poem, and I think that older readers will find the poems too childish.