LS 5623 Mod 6



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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.