Things I Have to Tell You

Franco, B. (2001). Things I have to tell you. Candlewick Press. Cambridge, MA. ISBN: 0-7636-1035-6

Between the words and the photographs, readers will gain a sense of empathy for all teenage girls. In Things I have to tell you, Betsy Franco compiled over thirty poems from the voice of various teenagers who would write to express their life, their feelings, and their circumstances.

Intertwined within the words of young adult females, is Nina Nickles’ portrayal of girls in their element of friends, school, and homes. Even though the photographs do not go directly with the poetry, they do represent the lives and feelings of the same age of the poets. Nickles states that “The girls I photographed had not read the poems beforehand, nor did I seek to illustrate the poems” (p. xii).

Betsy Franco went in search of poetry and prose from young girls all over the country. When she was a young adult, she experienced many depressing feelings of isolation and being overwhelmed. Were other young women just like her?  While in search, what she found and received was letters from all over the world describing the trials and tribulations they faced day in and day out through their writing.

The poems are a  “mixture of prose and poetry, the young women express their fears, dreams, relationships, and angst.” Since they are from the perspective and voice of actual teens around the world, they are realistic “And while the poems are triumphant in their realism, the book is elevated by the inclusion of gritty, unposed black-and-white photographs.” (School Library Journal).

Many young women can relate to the honesty that is brought out in this collection of poems. The authors of every poem did not hold back. It was pure raw material that fit their lives. Franco has edited a wonderful way for peers to share a message of struggle but with hope to overcome those challenges.

Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI School Library Journal

A Wreath for Emmitt Till

Nelson, M. (2005).  A wreath for Emmett Till. Houghton Mifflin. New York, NY. ISBN: 0-618-39752-3

Marilyn Nelson creates a story through poetic sonnets to describe the historical story of Emmett Till, a young fourteen-year-old African American boy who was lynched for apparently whistling at a white woman during the civil rights era."The strict form became a kind of insulation, a way of protecting myself from the intense pain of the subject matter," writes Nelson about her writing style. Nelson created 15 sonnets in which the last line of each poem begins the first line of the next to captivate the good, bad, and ugly of this traumatic case. She then culminates her story by using the first line of each poem to create the final fifteenth poem. Creativity and dedication to the writing make this collection of poems a story for all to feel empathy for Emmett Till and family.

Within her story, Nelson creates an image of sadness and hope. "In my house, there is still something called grace, / which melts ice shards of hate and makes hearts whole." (p.19) Illustrations were matched perfectly to help the reader symbolically visualize what Nelson was attempting to portray through her words. “When matched with Lardy's gripping, spare, symbolic paintings of tree trunks, blood-red roots, and wreaths of thorns, these poems are a powerful achievement that teens and adults will want to discuss together.” (Enberg)

These poems use metaphors to show the pain and growth of the people involved in this situation. “The rigid form distills the words' overwhelming emotion into potent, heart-stopping lines that speak from changing perspectives, including that of a tree.” (Enberg). To add to the imagery of the descriptive poems, Phillip Lardy includes illustrations that “echo the representative nature of the poetry, using images from nature and taking advantage of the emotional quality of color.”(Reidel).

Prior to the fifteen sonnets, Nelson gives the readers background as to why this book is so important and heartfelt. The story is intended for young adults, but can be a challenge to fully grasp the pain felt to the family of Emmett Till. There or horrific graphic parts that are strewn through this poetry that might take more than one read to truly grasp what Marilyn Nelson was trying to convey.

Gillian Engberg American Library Association. Booklist

Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY. School Library Journal

A Coretta Scott King and Printz honor book

Keesha's House

Frost, H. (2003). Keesha’s House. Library of Congress, USA.  

ISBN 0-374-34064-1

Is being a teen the same now as it used to be? In Helen Frost’s prose novel, Keesha’s House, readers are introduced to seven different teenagers in the inner city that are all experiencing some difficulty within their life. Even though Joe owns the house, Keesha is the first teenager that lives there, due to circumstances with her father’s alcoholism, and welcomes all others in for safety. Teenagers tend to want to be near Keesha and build relationships worth keeping after high school.

Helen Frost brings in various types of poetry to convey messages from the teens. When teens are speaking, she uses sestinas. When the poem is told from the perspective of adults, Frost writes in sonnets.  According to School Library Journal, “Frost has taken the poem-story to a new level with well-crafted sestinas and sonnets, leading readers into the souls and psyches of her teen protagonists.” This may not been seen immediately, because Frost made the decision to not express her various poetry choices until after you have experienced the story. The second time you read the novel, you will have a much higher appreciation for the writing.

Through poems, Helen Frost gives readers a glimpse into the trials and tribulations of what teenagers experience in today’s world. Jason and Stephie are expecting a child, but Jason is struggling with accepting the child, or foregoing his scholarship. Stephie is struggling with Jason’s initial lack of affection for her. Dontay is a foster child, who struggles with accepting that foster parents really do have interest in him and have understanding for his situation with his parent’s in prison. Carmen has once again been picked up by the police for a DUI even though she was only driving to save a friend in need. Harris is dealing with being gay, living in his car, and being excluded from his family who finds it against their morals. Katie is running and hiding from her mother’s abusive boyfriend. Finally there is Keesha. She is hiding from living in a house with a drunk and abusive father.

Through Frost’s poetic novel, teenagers are shown a path of hope. Even with the sometimes depressing angle and empathy from the readers, they leave the book with a sense of hope for all characters to learn from their devastation and move on to a productive life. Overall, Joe is the savior for these young adults, who once had to have his own assistance when he was younger.

Including the adults perspective in this novel, Frost sets aside two sections, written in sonnets, to give a different point of view. Making the choice to use a different section, different type of poetry, and different perspective give the reader another angle as to how different these two generations and lives are.

Frost has grabbed the readers attention by having a straight to the point novel with so many stories, you are left wanting to know more about the teenagers lives after high school. However, she manages to incorporate many different challenges that young adults face on a daily basis that will also guide more readers to enjoy this prose novel. Perfectly stated by American Library Association is that “This moving first novel tells the story in a series of dramatic monologues that are personal, poetic, and immediate, with lots of line breaks that make for easy reading, alone or in readers' theater.”

School Library Journal Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Hillsboro, OR
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

ALA Booklist

Michael L Printz Honor Book (Awards)