M6 Angst!

Planetkiki. 2001. Angst. New York: Workman Publishing Company. ISBN: 0761123830.

     Anyone who has spent time with teenage girls knows they ride a roller coaster ride of emotions each day. Angst is a compilation of those feelings into one book, ranging from the angry to the smitten. Planetkiki.com was (the website was no longer active when I searched) a place where teen girls from all over the world could share their poetry, thoughts, and feelings. In addition to the poems, the reference section contains definitions of various types of poetry, frameworks for readers to try writing their own poems, and a short biography of each writer.


     The poems are what is expected from young writers: lots of rhyming words that sometimes developed into a deep thought but often remained surface-level rants. “It’s stupid; it’s dumb/ Why must I always feel this way? I can’t feel now, I’m numb/ And it starts over every day” (86). In addition, with online postings, the chance of someone plagiarizing is high, like the poem “Me” having an insert “explaining” how it is based on a poem “Me” by Jewel Kilcher, which when analyzed reveals it’s the same poem with a few words or phrases changed. However, I think that’s the point—that writing, no matter how undeveloped, is to be admired. Putting their feelings about boys, friends, and family on paper for the world to see takes strength. The writing skill can be developed, but vulnerability and the strength to show it can’t be taught.

The poem “Life Sucks” exemplifies the sentiments of most of the writers in the book.

“It’s been way too long for me to stop

To think about what is going on in me

All I know is….

It sucks

You suck

We all Suck

Life Sucks” (29).

     The book could be presented to a class of reluctant writers who need to see that feelings are for expressing and everyone has something to say and to share. The poems are not geared for deep discussion of lofty ideas, but they are inspirational to young writers who may need to see that teens can have their poetry published. When I originally picked this book for reviewing, I thought the website would be a great place for a class to submit their own poems, so I was saddened to see the website was gone. Teens should have a place to share their writing.

M5 Seeing Emily (A LS 5663 Review)

Wong, Joyce Lee. 2005. Seeing Emily. New York: Amulet Books. ISBN: 0-8109-5757-4.

     Sixteen year old Emily has always done what is expected of her. She works hard, stays out of trouble, and gets along well with her parents. After meeting a new guy at school, Emily decides that like her drawings and paintings, she would like to be a blank canvas, ready to be designed differently. However, when Nick tries to get her to become someone she isn’t, Emily becomes confused as to who she really is. A trip to her parents’ homeland of Taiwan, Emily finds out who she really is.


     The beauty of this novel is the metaphors. Emily’s poetry often compares her feelings to that of animals in a poignant way. “I imagined I was a cat, her eyes shining as she watches a goldfish/ that shimmers on the floor” (Wong 12). The imagery is detailed and moving. During the course of the story, Emily is working on a mural for her school. The mascot is a tiger, so many references are made to the tiger and its prey, paralleling Nick and Emily’s relationship and her own struggle to find herself. While the comparisons are clear, a teen reader would not feel overwhelmed with “lecturing” by the morale of the story. “Taking Flight” and the following poem “The Dance” cut to the heart of the matter: a tiger chasing a monkey and Nick forcing Emily to be someone she is not. These two poems could be a pair reading for high school students, comparing the poem about the animals to the one about a relationship that doesn’t feel right. Many students struggle with writing metaphors or similes without using clichés, and these two poems balance each other perfectly.

     A part of “Taking Flight”

With a rustle of leaves

and a graceful leap

to another tree,

the monkey swings herself away,

disappearing into the green.

Even after she’s gone

her screams echo back

so raucous and wild

they startle

a flock of birds. (178)



     A part of “The Dance”

Even the blessedly hot

water shooting out

from the shower head,

beating down loud

against the glass walls,

couldn’t drown out

the words,

my geisha,


Emily,


My geisha. (181)

     In addition to discussing the rich language, the topic of fitting in is always timely with teens. They struggle to find their place, and this book examines a Chinese American girl's road to self-discovery.

Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith (LS 5663 Review)



Smith, Hope Anita. 2008. Keeping the Night Watch. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 9780805072020.

      Thirteen year old C.J. became the man of the house when his father walked out on the family. Now that his father is back, C.J. struggles to find not only his place in the family but also forgiveness for his father, who is doing everything in his power to make amends.

      Told in free verse poetry, this book tells the journey from fall to spring, from hate to forgiveness, and from separation to unity. The simple words are rich with figurative language. C.J. compares the family conversations to baking, his father's eyes to a white flag of surrender, and the family's security to fine bone-china. Although each poem could stand alone, woven together, they tell the story of a healing family. Offsetting the serious nature of forgiving a father who abandoned him, C.J. also describes his crush on Maya and his nervousness when he’s around her. The addition of these poems creates a balanced look at a teenage boy.

     The pictures, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, add fill in the blanks left by the simple words. The most compelling picture is the one for the poem entitled “Showdown at the O.K Corral”, which pictures C.J. and his father face to face, C.J.’s face angry and his father’s face determined. Another picture that speaks volumes accompanies the poem “Light at the end of the Tunnel”, which has a dark tunnel with C.J.’s father at the end in white, symbolizing C.J.’s secret hope that at the end, his father will be there as “our sun rising” (Smith 69).

      To introduce this book, “If You can’t Stand the Heat”, which epitomizes C.J.’s anger is a good place to start.

I am mad.

I am the worst kind of mad.

I don’t yell.

I don’t slam doors.

I don’t throw things.

I’m a pot with a lid on,

I keep all my mad inside.

I just let it stew.

I want Byron to be mad, too,

but he isn’t.

Says he doesn’t want to hold on to mad.

He takes the lid off his pot,

Lets mad go.

Says he wants his family back.

Says he’s glad Daddy’s home.

I’m mad at Daddy,

But it feels like I’m mad at Byron, too.

We’re two different kinds of pots,

Byron and me,

and when it comes to Daddy,

we can’t cook together. (Smith 16)

       Students can analyze the emotion, the simple sentence structure to convey anger, and the cooking metaphors and then compare it to the final poem “Dance with Me” where the family finally comes together when C.J. dances with his father. “We keep our eyes on Him. We dance on our tears” (Smith 73). After reading this poem, students could write in their Jammin’ Journals (journals written in response to music) after listening to the song “Dance with my Father” by Luther Vandross. The journal entries could compare C.J.’s feeling of forgiveness when he dances with his father and the song’s sorrow over his mother no longer being able to dance with his father.

The Brimstone Journals by Ron Koertge (LS 5663 Review)

Kuertge, Ron. 2001. The Brimstone Journals. New York: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0763613029

Branston High School, nicknamed Brimstone by its occupants, is a typical suburban high school in America. You have the jock, the nerd, the fat kid, the lesbian, and every other “label” high school students give each other. In The Brimstone Journals, Koertge gives readers a glimpse into the personal thoughts of each of these fifteen students by recording their thoughts and feelings in journal form.


What joins the students together, whether they know it or not, is Boyd, an angry young man with a list of “everybody who ever blew me off, flipped me off, or pissed me off” (Koertge 51). When he meets Mike, Boyd begins to plan a Columbine type event where he gets revenge against all those he thinks offended him. Other students are sucked into his plan either by joining in the attack or having their name added to the list. One student bravely thwarts Boyd’s plan, and the aftermath of the “event” showcases teenagers at their best: living in the moment. Although a few students have their lives changed like Sheila opening up to her mother about her struggle and Allison telling the counselor what her stepfather is doing to her, most students immediately go back to the frivolous cares of high school. Damon, the controlling boyfriend jock, immediately goes back to wondering when his girlfriend will come back to him. Rob still doesn’t understand why he was on the list. Even Lester, the hero of the book, contemplates his actions for a minute and then immediately thinks about going to prom with Meredith. Boyd exemplifies this even further as with one sentence he is choosing to help kill his peers and in the next, he’s thinking about a tattoo.

Boyd
I was gonna drop out of school until
Mike got me to see how we need
People who can lead the foot soldiers.
Somebody the grunts can look up to.
So I’ll march up there and shake some total
phony’s hand.
Plus, Mike’s springing for a tattoo when I
get my diploma.
(Koertge 31)


Although Koertge gives a voice to the average high school students in this book, the book felt incomplete in some way. Because there were fifteen voices to hear in only 113 pages, some voices were not developed completely nor did their few entries do their stories justice. However, the many voices join together cohesively to tell the unified story of a high school on the edge of an attack by one of its students. Each unique voice tells a different side or perspective of the story that the reader would not have seen if the story had been written in standard prose. The pattern of the poems (some one sentence in length while others two pages) resonates the disjointed feelings of teenagers.


Each day, millions of teens around the country go to school with different problems and situations in which they feel isolated and alone. In this book, Koertge gives them a voice. Before reading the book, a history, psychology, or English teacher could have an introduction lesson using articles out of today's newspapers and magazines about students committing violent acts at school. The events in recent history make the book relevant to today's teen. Because the poems are short and the book a fast read, the teacher should read the whole book with the class in order to see the full ramifications of the character's action.  In addition to great discussions about life, fitting in, and isolation, the poems lend themselves to discussions about character traits, development, and change throughout a story. Comparing the change in Allison to the lack of concern by Rob clearly shows character development and the lack of it. Finally, students can then write about their own struggles and perhaps even get some help if they need it.