Monday, April 10, 2006

A Maze Me, by Naomi Shihab Nye

A collection of largely unrealted poems, reflections on growing up, on the state of the world, and just about everything in between. There are poems about pumpkins, and old ladies, and babysitting. All sorts of topics!

The subtitle "Poems for Girls" is a bit of a misnomer. There is a wonderful essay at the beginning about turning 13 and some of the earlier poems have a particular feminine quality (in the stereotypical sense of the term) quality to them, but the majority of this work isn't really gendered in any particular way. That doesn't make it any less magical.

I fell in love with this book when they read "Because of Poems" at the CCBC Spring Gathering, and that poem alone makes this the first must-own book of the year. Not every poem is a hit, but the ones that are, are truly transcendent.

No comments: