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What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones



Module 6 Poetry, Drama, Film and Response


BIBLIOGRAPHY


Sones, Sonya. What my girlfriend doesn't know. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007. ISBN: 9780689876028


CRITICAL ANALYSIS


The sequel to What my Mother Doesn’t Know, this novel is written from Robin’s (the boyfriend) point of view in free verse poetry. He covers topics that are pressing in his life such as first love, bullying and other typical high school issues and insecurities. The novel is honest and emotional as it offers a perspective rarely shared. Readers may be surprised at how a young man’s actions are so closely tied to his feelings. Robin demonstrates how young men may struggle to express their feelings, deal with the pain that others inflict upon them or handle rejection, teasing and temptation.  Truly insighful and entertaining, this is another important novel of prose for young readers.


BOOK HOOK/EXPLEMPLARY OR FAVORITE LINES


I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Tired Of This: (pg 93)


Of letting


my fingers






Swirl across the silky skin


on Sophie’s hands


While she swirls hers


across mine,






Lacing


and unlacing,






In this kind of floaty,


fingertip dance…






Both of us practically


in a trance.





Author’s website: http://www.sonyasones.com/






EXTERNAL ASSESSMENTS






School Library Journal


This sequel to What My Mother Doesn't Know (S & S, 2001) stands completely on its own. Robin's life at Cambridge High School is miserable. The arty outsider's last name becomes the pejorative slang of the school—as in, "Don't be such a Murphy." His lot improves, however, when popular Sophie becomes his girlfriend despite the detriment to her reputation. Better still, the freshman is invited to audit an art class at Harvard. It is his homecoming; for once, he is the comedian rather than the butt of jokes. One of the college freshmen even shows some romantic interest in him. Written as a novel in verse, this title is a fast-paced, page-turning romp that gives authentic voice to male youth even when it is painfully truthful.


Booklist


In What My Mother Doesn't Know (2001), 14-year-old Sophie, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, teen, describes her surprise when she is drawn to Robin, the school-appointed loser who makes her laugh. In this sequel, Robin picks up the narrative in rapid-fire, first-person free verse as he describes their school's reaction to the relationship: "They're gawking at us / like Sophie's Beauty and I'm the Beast." Sophie compares the two to outlaws: "It's just you and me against the world." But after Sophie's friends dump her, Robin feels guilty for the "random acts of unkindness" she endures: "Sophie may feel like an outlaw, / but thanks to yours truly, / what she really is / is an outcast." A talented artist, Robin finds escape in a Harvard drawing class, where a new friendship threatens his closeness with Sophie. The story of a thrilling and faltering first love may be familiar, but Robin's believable voice is distinctive, and Sones uses her spare words (and a few drawings) to expert effect. From bad puns to breathless accounts of locking lips to anguished worries about losing Sophie, Robin reinforces the picture of an awkward, likable, intelligent, and realistically flawed young man. Many teens will see themselves, and they'll cheer when Sophie and Robin thwart the bullies and reclaim their social standing. Like Sones' other titles, this is a great choice for reluctant and avid readers alike.

LS 5623 Mod 6

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mowrites4kids.drury.edu

Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by twentieth-century American Art edited by Jan Greenberg


Module 6 Poetry, Drama, Film and Response



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Greenberg, Jan. Heart to heart: new poems inspired by twentieth-century American art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001. ISBN: 0810943867



CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This anthology is a unique pairing of original poetry inspired by iconic 20th century art. The result is both moving and profound. Biographical information is included for poets and artists as well as photograph and poem credits. Some poets and artists featured are Carole Boston Weatherford, William H. Johnson, Jane O. Wayne and Milton Avery. In some cases it is hard to believe that the art and poem were not created by the same person. The parings are so connected that it is difficult to separate the two. Broken into chapters such as “Stories”, “Voices”, “Impressions” and Expressions”, this collection offers a variety of both art and poetry that is playful, emotional, challenging or provocative. The combination of powerful images and compelling language is impressive.

BOOK HOOK/EXPLEMPLARY OR FAVORITE LINES

Jan Greenberg has received many awards for her books. They include the ALA Notable, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Booklist Editor’s Choice, IRA Teacher’s Choice, Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, and Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book.

Author’s Website: http://www.jangreenbergsandrajordan.com/



EXTERNAL ASSESSMENTS



School Library Journal

Greenberg invited 43 poets to choose a piece of modern art and to write a poetic response to it. The result is a gorgeous, thoughtful, stimulating collection of art and poetry that turns the standard poetry/art book on its head. "How would you paint a poem?" Bobbi Katz asks in her response to a Mark Rothko painting. "Prepare the canvas carefully/With shallow pools of color/Stacked secrets waiting to be told-." Greenberg's book might best be seen as an embodiment of that poem. Each work of art is impeccably reproduced, the color and design are exceptional, and each poem is given room on the page to breathe. The art glows, the words reflect the images and create more light-"Florine, we would live inside your colors! Red joy,/golden rushes of hope-" Naomi Shihab Nye writes about Florine Stettheimer's The Cathedrals of Broadway. If a picture book is defined as a marriage of word and art, then Heart to Heart is not only a wonderful poetry collection, but also a picture book of the highest quality.





Booklist

Specially commissioned, original poems celebrate some of the finest twentieth-century American art in this beautiful, surprising volume. Such well-known writers as Nancy Willard, X. J. Kennedy, Lee Upton, and Angela Johnson wrote poems inspired by artworks created through the century, but the book's organization is thematic rather than chronological. The poems are grouped according to how the writer responded to the art: some tell a story about the whole painting; some speak from the perspective of an object within the artwork; some transform the visual elements into poetic metaphors; some talk about the artists and their techniques. From a tight diamante and pantoum to lyrical free verse, the range of poetic styles will speak to a wide age group. Younger children, for example, will love Deborah Pope's "On Lichtenstein's 'Bananas and Grapefruit,'" which melts quickly down the page to a delicious ending: "gulppulp / sweet part / eat / art." Teens (and adults) will enjoy the inquisitive depth of such selections as Ronald Wallace's "Mobile/Stabile." Concluding with biographical notes on each poet and artist, this rich resource is an obvious choice for teachers, and the exciting interplay between art and the written word will encourage many readers to return again and again to the book. To learn more about the book's origins, see the Story behind the Story on the opposite page.

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amazon.com


















Falling Hard 100 Love Poems by Teenagers edited by Betsy Franco


Module 6 Poetry, Drama, Film and Response



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Franco, Betsy. Falling hard: 100 love poems by teenagers. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780763634377

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This anthology claims to be written by teenagers of various sexual orientations. The free verse poems represented in this collection are bold, honest, insightful and sensitive. Some are works that depict harsh realities while other poems tell of the sweet, hopeful joy that only love provides. Although this book includes submissions from writers as young as twelve, some topics are of a much more mature nature. Due to the genuine vocabulary, creativity and talent of these young poets this collection remains very popular within a popular young adult genre.

BOOK HOOK/EXPLEMPLARY OR FAVORITE LINES

Inside cover: The vertigo-inducing realm of romantic love is captured in the unforgettable collection of one hundred poems by teens. The writers are straight, gay, lesbian, bi or transgender; they live next door or across an ocean; they are innocent or experienced. Poetic explorations range from new love to stale love, from obsession to ennui, from ecstasy to heartbreak, and every nuance in between. Some verses are touching and comical, others are ineffably tragic. Feelings may be tender and sweet or brutal and biting. No matter which stage or shade is articulated, love is exquisitely, endlessly fascinating.



Author’s Website: http://www.betsyfranco.com/index.htm



EXTERNAL ASSESSMENTS



From School Library Journal

Falling Hard was compiled mostly by email from teenagers from many different backgrounds, and with different sexual orientations. Only their names and ages are given. The poems are written in free verse and are honest, sometimes explicit, and creative (there is an ode to a piano, and a "Pledge of Affection to a Nerd"). Love is variously compared to a psychic leech and the sting of a bee. Some of the poems have strong language. Interracial relationships, being gay ("Kiss a guy, get a man/Be a bi, lend a hand"), sex, break-ups, flirting, the intensity of love ("blinding flashing lightning in my guts") and jealousy are among the topics addressed. "Blackberries" by Emma Marlowe, age 17, uses vivid images of "flying on wings of hemp and silver/waxing sunlight crackles through dust/gold glass on a poisoned oak" and "I had to brush my taste to keep the teeth of him/out of my head."

From Booklist

The teen poets in this lively anthology knock greeting-card clichés even as they celebrate their romance and their passion (“I want to wrap around you / I want to get inside you”) and vent their hurt, anger, and longing. Most poems were submitted to Franco by e-mail from the U.S., but some also came from abroad. Just the teens’ names and ages are given, but their writing reveals a wide diversity of race, sexual identity, maturity, and lifestyle. With a spacious open design, the poems are not arranged in any particular order, true to the way readers will dip in and browse. Some of the simplest lines say the most: “I want you less than I thought I did. / And I love you more than I ever knew.” From the pain of breakup and denial to affection and desire, the feelings in these poems will ring true to gay and straight teens alike.