Rosenberg, Liz and November, Deena. I Just Hope It’s Lethal: Poems of Sadness, Madness, & Joy. New York: Graphia/ Houghton Mifflin. 2005. ISBN-13: 978-0618-56452-1
Plot Summary:
This is a collection of poems from various poets which are applicable to teen life. Among the poets represented in this work are Rumi, Charles Bukowski, Anne Sexton, W.B. Yates, Edgar Allen Poe, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ikkyu, T.S. Eliot, and others. The poems are organized in five different sections; each section represents some aspect of teen life. Aspects of teen angst, relationships, depression, confusion, and happiness can be found in this work. The sections are: Sadness Without Reason: Moods; Wild World; Lopsided Love; Rapid Tumble; Wish You Were Here: The Return. The collectors of these poems have also added some of their own poetry to the mix. Short bios of the poets represented can be found in the back of the book so that readers can get to know the poet and hopefully check out other works by some of their favorites presented in the book.
Critical Evaluation:
The poets gathered are some of the greatest in all of poetry and there is a pretty good mix of style and background. The Roman and Greek classics seem to have been ignored, as is Shakespeare, which leaves out a huge portion of good material. The poems which are added are good though, and express a variety of topics and can be understood by the mass of teen readers. The idea of collecting works from some of the masters to present to a teen audience is a good one. Teens may not have exposure to some of the great poets anywhere but in class, which could turn them off to some of the greatest poetry. This book presents poetry as something applicable to teen life and to the emotions and topics that are important to teens. This may in turn get teens interested in poetry of all kinds and perhaps to even writing their own; new poets are almost always fans of poetry.
Reader’s Annotation:
Some of history’s greatest poets are assembled in this volume and the pieces of poetry are selected especially for relevance to teen life.
Information about the author:
Liz Rosenberg is a published poet with three titles of poetry and two novels to her credit. She is an instructor of English and creative writing at the State University of New York at Binghampton. Deena November is a writer and poet who resides in Pennsylvania. These two poets are the ones who came up with the idea for this volume. They artfully insert their own poetry among some of the masters.
All other poets in this collection are from varied backgrounds that share being poets recognized for the high level of skill they have attained in the art. These are from a number of different traditions and span many eras.
Genre:
Poetry
Curriculum Ties:
Literature/Poetry
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Choose a few poems and speak about how these reflect the things going on in the lives of teens.
2. Focus on particular poets and their bios and how their lives impacted their poetry.
3. Discuss the power of poetry in the shaping of lives and the personal impact of poetry.
Reading Level/Interest Age:
14+
Challenge Issues:
Depression/ Mental illness
Challenge Defense Ideas:
1. Read the book.
2. Be Familiar with the policy of the ALA and your institution.
3. Make a note of the contents of the work and how they fall in with the collection development policy of your institution and the standpoint of the ALA.
4. Gain an awareness of the awards, reviews, and criticisms of the work, as well as other works by the same writer.
5. Know the process for materials challenges at your library.
Why did you include this book? :
A collection of poetry has its place in any list of books. Poetry has played a big part in my personal development. Any collection that has Charles Bukowski and Rumi in the same binding is worth a look.
Author Site:
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